Predictors of Long COVID: older adults, women, and an incomplete COVID-19 vaccination schedule

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: to analyze the symptoms of long COVID in patients treated in Primary Health Care, considering gender, age, and vaccination status. METHOD: this is a cross-sectional and analytical study conducted with a sample of 350 patients with long COVID treated in Primary Health Care services. Data were collected through the analysis of medical records and analyzed using the Poisson regression model. RESULTS: older adults had an 88% higher prevalence of shortness of breath as a symptom of long COVID; females had a 13.5 times higher prevalence of hair loss; and unvaccinated individuals had a 3.64 times higher prevalence of reporting chest pain. CONCLUSION: identifying the most prevalent symptoms of long COVID, taking into account age group, gender, and vaccination status, can contribute to clinical evaluation and the development of protocols to guide the appropriate management of these individuals.