Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University, London, Canada.
Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Age Ageing. 2023 Dec 1;52(12). doi: 10.1093/ageing/afad225.
A substantial proportion of individuals continue experiencing persistent symptoms following the acute stage of their Covid-19 illness. However, there is a shortage of population-based studies on Long Covid risk factors.
To estimate the prevalence of Long Covid in the population of middle-aged and older Europeans having contracted Covid-19 and to assess the role of multimorbidity and socio-economic characteristics as potential risk factors of Long Covid.
A population-based longitudinal prospective study involving a sample of respondents 50 years and older (n = 4,004) from 27 countries who participated in the 2020 and 2021 Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), in particular the Corona Surveys. Analyses were conducted by a multilevel (random intercept) hurdle negative binomial model.
Overall, 71.6% (95% confidence interval = 70.2-73.0%) of the individuals who contracted Covid-19 had at least one symptom of Long Covid up to 12 months after the infection, with an average of 3.06 (standard deviation = 1.88) symptoms. There were significant cross-country differences in the prevalence of Long Covid and number of symptoms. Higher education and being a man were associated with a lower risk of Long Covid, whilst being employed was associated with a higher risk of having Long Covid. Multimorbidity was associated with a higher number of symptoms and older age was associated with a lower number of symptoms.
Our results provide evidence on the substantial burden of Long Covid in Europe. Individuals who contracted Covid-19 may require long-term support or further medical intervention, putting additional pressure on national health care systems.
相当一部分人在感染新冠病毒的急性期后仍持续出现症状。然而，针对长新冠风险因素的人群研究较为匮乏。
评估感染新冠病毒的中老年欧洲人群中长新冠的流行率，并评估多种合并症和社会经济特征作为长新冠潜在风险因素的作用。
本研究为基于人群的前瞻性纵向研究，样本来自 27 个国家的年龄在 50 岁及以上的受访者（n=4004），他们参加了 2020 年和 2021 年的欧洲健康、老龄化和退休调查（SHARE），特别是新冠调查。分析采用多水平（随机截距）障碍负二项模型进行。
总体而言，71.6%（95%置信区间=70.2-73.0%）感染新冠病毒的人在感染后 12 个月内至少有一个长新冠症状，平均有 3.06 个（标准差=1.88）症状。长新冠的流行率和症状数存在显著的国家间差异。较高的教育程度和男性身份与较低的长新冠风险相关，而就业与较高的长新冠风险相关。多种合并症与更多的症状相关，而年龄较大与较少的症状相关。
我们的研究结果为欧洲长新冠的高负担提供了证据。感染新冠病毒的人可能需要长期支持或进一步的医疗干预，这给国家卫生保健系统带来了额外的压力。
