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Employment outcomes of people with Long Covid symptoms: community-based cohort study

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posted on 2024-04-17, 09:03 authored by Daniel Ayoubkhani, Francesco Zaccardi, Koen B Pouwels, A Sarah Walker, Donald Houston, Nisreen A Alwan, Josh Martin, Kamlesh Khunti, Vahé Nafilyan

Background Evidence on the long-term employment consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infection is lacking. We used data from a large, community-based sample in the UK to estimate associations between Long Covid and employment outcomes. Methods This was an observational, longitudinal study using a pre–post design. We included survey participants from 3 February 2021 to 30 September 2022 when they were aged 16–64 years and not in education. Using conditional logit modelling, we explored the time-varying relationship between Long Covid status ≥12 weeks after a first test-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (reference: pre-infection) and labour market inactivity (neither working nor looking for work) or workplace absence lasting ≥4 weeks. Results Of 206 299 participants (mean age 45 years, 54% female, 92% white), 15% were ever labour market inactive and 10% were ever long-term absent during follow-up. Compared with pre-infection, inactivity was higher in participants reporting Long Covid 30 to <40 weeks [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.45; 95% CI: 1.17–1.81] or 40 to <52 weeks (aOR: 1.34; 95% CI: 1.05–1.72) post-infection. Combining with official statistics on Long Covid prevalence, and assuming a correct statistical model, our estimates translate to 27 000 (95% CI: 6000–47 000) working-age adults in the UK being inactive because of Long Covid in July 2022. Conclusions Long Covid is likely to have contributed to reduced participation in the UK labour market, though it is unlikely to be the sole driver. Further research is required to quantify the contribution of other factors, such as indirect health effects of the pandemic.

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Citation

Daniel Ayoubkhani, Francesco Zaccardi, Koen B Pouwels, A Sarah Walker, Donald Houston, Nisreen A Alwan, Josh Martin, Kamlesh Khunti, Vahé Nafilyan, Employment outcomes of people with Long Covid symptoms: community-based cohort study, European Journal of Public Health, 2024;, ckae034

Author affiliation

Population Health Sciences

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Published in

European Journal of Public Health

Publisher

Oxford University Press (OUP)

issn

1101-1262

eissn

1464-360X

Copyright date

2024

Available date

2024-04-17

Spatial coverage

England

Language

en

Deposited by

Ms Lydia Wallman

Deposit date

2024-04-12

Data Access Statement

De-identified study data are available to accredited researchers in the ONS Secure Research Service (SRS) under part 5, chapter 5 of the Digital Economy Act 2017. For further information about accreditation, contact research.support@ons.gov.uk or visit: https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/whatwedo/statistics/requestingstatistics/approvedresearcherscheme.

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