Long COVID associated with unemployment

After the first wave of disruption caused by the work-from-home mandate by the world government, there has been seemingly constant absenteeism caused by workers infected with the virus.

Despite the fact that most organizations have been reopening for a long time and want to welcome their employees back to the office, the coronavirus doesn’t seem to get the memo.

monthly, research show Over a million people have called in sick since the pandemic began. But for some professionals, COVID-19 symptoms are replacing days of work set aside for illness.

COVID is now dominating the American workforce, and new research shows that many people suffering from symptoms such as brain fog are unable to return to work entirely months after being infected. increase.

Long Covid: sick and unable to work

the study, Posted in Jama Networksurveyed more than 15,000 COVID-19 patients between the ages of 18 and 69 in all 50 U.S. states and found that 15% reported prolonged COVID-19 symptoms ranging from dizziness to shortness of breath. .

Of the 2,236 participants who reported experiencing long-lasting COVID symptoms, 12% were unemployed compared to 9% for those who were not.

Even when researchers adjusted for sociodemographic factors such as age, gender, region, race, and ethnicity, they found that prolonged COVID was associated with a higher likelihood of unemployment.

Meanwhile, nearly half of those experiencing long-lasting COVID symptoms said they had cognitive-related symptoms, such as brain fog and memory problems, that were affecting their work.

The study’s first author, Roy Perlis, said there was a “tendency to downplay these symptoms,” but the results were important not only because cognitive symptoms “afflict people, but A real functional impact.”

And the findings are consistent with Professor Daniel Sandsmark’s clinical experience at the Penn NeuroCovid Clinic. He reiterated that “cognitive effects and fatigue are the main reasons I hear from patients as to why they are unable to return to work.”

“While cognitive symptoms in particular are not associated with apparent physical disability, these data indicate that these symptoms are associated with real-world consequences such as returning to work.” she told Jama.

But COVID patients want to work longer

A notable number of professionals left the workforce after the pandemic — work-life balance, long social distance and Seeking more meaning in lifecited as some of the many factors behind this trend.

But a rather grim reality that the study highlights is that in reality, a sizeable cohort of working professionals consider themselves unfit to work after contracting the coronavirus.

Of those currently unemployed due to long-lasting COVID-related debilitating symptoms, 40% had full-time employment before the pandemic. In contrast, only 28% of unemployed people who had not experienced COVID for a long time were employed before the pandemic.

And for the most part, long-term COVID sufferers want to return to work, with about 58% currently looking for work.

The proportion of workers with long-standing COVID-19 who want to work but still find themselves unemployed shows a disproportionate This suggests that it is due to the lack of appropriate adjustments for some people.

But it’s not all bad news. There are signs that COVID may be coming to an end, albeit slowly.

Recent Kaiser Family Foundation Report Using data from a household pulse survey conducted jointly by several U.S. federal agencies, since June 2022, the percentage of people reporting active, prolonged COVID-19 symptoms has increased to 19. % to 11% in January 2023.

“What we’re seeing clinically is that most people who have had COVID for a long time are getting better over time. It’s not perfect all the time, but it’s getting better.

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