Long COVID and psychosocial factors among middle-aged and older adults. Results of the nationally representative German Ageing Survey

Abstract

Background: In addition to the physical symptoms, long COVID can cause considerable psychological burden. Aims: To investigate the association of long COVID with depressive symptoms, loneliness, perceived social isolation and life satisfaction (also stratified by sex). Methods: Data from the most recent eighth wave of the nationally representative German Ageing Survey was used, encompassing community-dwelling individuals 43 years to 90 years, n = 4,017 individuals in the analytic sample). Psychometrically sound tools were used to quantify the outcomes. Physician-diagnosed long COVID was used as independent variable. Adjusted (weighted) linear regressions with cluster-robust standard errors were used. Robustness checks were conducted. Results: Regressions adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle-related covariates showed that individuals with long COVID had consistently worse psychosocial outcomes compared to individuals without long COVID. However, after additionally adjusting for health-related covariates, only the association between long COVID and perceived social isolation remained significant (β = 0.29, p < 0.001). Stratified by sex, long COVID was significantly associated with higher social isolation scores among women (β = 0.37, p < 0.001), but not among men in the fully adjusted models. Discussion: Even after adjusting for a wide array of covariates, findings suggest that (female) individuals with long COVID have stronger feelings of not belonging to the society (compared to individuals without long COVID). Conclusions: It may be beneficial to find ways to help such individuals feel included in society.