Massive 23andMe survey reveals who may be at the highest risk for long COVID – By Amy Graff (SFGATE) / May 31, 2022
It’s a question everyone wants answered: Who is more likely to develop long COVID-19, the debilitating symptoms that can linger for weeks, months or even longer, after an infection?
A new unpublished study from 23andMe is part of a growing body of research shedding light on who experiences post-COVID conditions and why. The survey, which was voluntary and relied on people self-reporting symptoms, had several major findings, including that women were far more likely to experience long-term symptoms, as were people with a prior diagnosis of depression or anxiety. More than half of people who reported a diagnosis of long COVID had a history of cardiometabolic disease, such as heart attacks or diabetes.
The 23andMe survey included 100,000 people who reported a diagnosis of COVID. Of those, 26,000 described experiencing symptoms of COVID at least a month after being infected. In addition, more than 7,000 participants reported an official diagnosis of long COVID. Survey participants were asked about their symptoms at 3, 6 and 12 months. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, about 13.3% of people with COVID will experience symptoms for at least a month, and 2.5% of people will experience symptoms for longer than three months.
