Assessing the Impact of Post-COVID Syndrome on Moscow Residents' Health

Abstract

One of the problems faced by the global community after the coronavirus pandemic was the so-called post-COVID syndrome (or “long-COVID”). In this work, we study the influence of various subjective manifestations of post-COVID syndrome on the well-being and some aspects of employment of the Moscow population. The study is based on data from an online sociological survey conducted in January 2023 on the VKontante social network. 674 questionnaires were selected for analysis. In general, we can talk about the representativeness of the sample, although it is certainly worth keeping in mind the sampling bias due to the characteristics of the socio-demographic profile of the VKontante user audience. Respondents were selected who were working in Moscow at the time of contracting coronavirus infection. The questionnaires were processed using the SPSS package. Analysis of the online survey data allowed us to draw the following conclusions. About 14% of respondents indicated the absence of post-Covid syndrome. The rest, to one degree or another, encountered various manifestations of it (multi-choice was assumed). Thus, about 67% indicated weakness and increased fatigue. 65% of respondents had impaired sense of smell; headache, decreased attention, sleep disturbances. In 44% of cases, respondents reported a long-lasting cough and shortness of breath. Objectively, for more than half of the respondents (53%), the symptoms disappeared within 3 months, so from a medical point of view we can say that they did not have post-Covid syndrome. However, there were also those who noted longer-term negative health effects. Thus, in 14.7% the consequences were pronounced up to 6 months, in 14.4% up to a year and in 17.9% more than 1 year. We also identified a statistically significant relationship between the duration of symptoms and the age of the respondent. Older Moscow residents are more susceptible to long-term post-Covid syndrome. Only a little more than 3% of respondents indicated that as a result of illness and subsequent deterioration in health, they had to change jobs or quit. We conclude that post-Covid syndrome is a truly significant phenomenon that has affected the well-being of Muscovites in the short and medium term.