All ETDs from UAB

Advisory Committee Chair

Cora E Lewis

Advisory Committee Members

Katia J Bruxvoort

Gregory Pavela

Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

2023

Degree Name by School

Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) School of Public Health

Abstract

Long COVID, also known as post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection or PASC, is a condition resulting from a SARS-CoV-2 infection characterized by continuing or novel symptoms across multiple organ systems occurring at least four weeks after infection. Symptoms of Long COVID can include cognitive impairment, memory loss, and fatigue. Although associations between COVID-19 and social determinants of health have been studied, noting that disadvantaged socioeconomic or racial groups have higher incidence and mortality rates from COVID-19, the associations between Long COVID and social determinants of health have not been robustly examined. Using data from the Household Pulse Survey in Summer 2022 and Winter 2022, we explored differences and odds in demographics and social determinants of health between those reporting Long COVID and those without Long COVID through descriptive statistics and comparisons, as well as multivariable logistic regression. The odds of Long COVID were further compared between the two survey periods to determine any change in odds over time across demographics and social determinants of health. We found increased odds of Long COVID in participants who were female, of lower educational attainment, of lower income, had experienced a recent loss of work, had recent difficulty with household expenses, had trouble with energy bills within the year, or had recent household food insufficiency. We found no major differences in the odds of Long COVID over time. However, after controlling for other factors, we found that Black or African American participants had lower odds of reporting Long COVID than White participants, in contrast to existing literature. Our study merits further investigation into Long COVID in at-risk populations to thoroughly examine associations between social determinants of health and Long COVID.

Included in

Public Health Commons

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.