OBJECTIVES: Many Americans experience continued symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection. In addition to people who leave the workforce after experiencing COVID, those who remain employed may experience loss of productivity from short-term absences (absenteeism) and reduced productivity while working (presenteeism). We examined reported losses of work productivity among adults who reported physician-identified Long COVID.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of data from National Health and Wellness Survey (May-Aug 2022) respondents. We included employed adults who reported having experienced COVID in the past (no date specified), said their physician identified them as having Long COVID or COVID syndrome, and reported symptoms at the time of survey. Respondents were stratified by their magnitude of activity limitations reported on the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire; we describe responses for the lowest (LT) and highest tertiles (HT). Work productivity (absenteeism, presenteeism, overall work limitations from either absenteeism or presenteeism), and mental health (anxiety via General Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire, depression via Patient Health Questionnaire-9), were compared across tertiles.

RESULTS: Among 1036 Long COVID respondents meeting inclusion criteria, presenteeism ranged from 24.2% of LT respondents (n=291) to 92.8% of HT respondents (n=304), and absenteeism ranged from 12.7% (LT respondents) to 47.3% (HT respondents). Almost all (99.7%) HT respondents reported their overall work productivity was reduced by 50% or more while 26.7% of LT respondents reported the same. The prevalence of moderate-to-severe depression (92.4% vs. 37.8%) and moderate-to-severe anxiety (84.2% vs. 26.1%) was higher among HT relative to LT (all p<.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Adults with Long COVID exhibit substantial heterogeneity in activity limitations; however, work limitations were substantial in all groups. Our results suggest significant economic impacts of Long COVID through lower productivity among those who remain employed. Further work with a comparison group is important to understand Long COVID-related work impairments, limitations, and disability.