Abstract
Long COVID has emerged as a significant public health concern, potentially affecting millions of people over the next decade. By examining the risk of an emergency department (ED) visit associated with long COVID across a population, we can see the population-level severity of long COVID. This study aims to quantify the change in risk for ED visits in the six months following COVID-19 infection for people diagnosed with long COVID compared to those who are only infected with COVID-19 but not diagnosed with long COVID. The study compared the risk of an ED visit between veterans with long COVID and those with only COVID-19 infection. We examined the risk of an ED visit for these two groups in the six months before and the six months after being infected with COVID-19. Data came from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) electronic medical records, specifically veterans who used the Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system and had an initial case of COVID-19 between March 1, 2021, and December 21, 2021. We examined ER visits six months before and after testing positive for COVID-19. The outcome of interest was the risk of an ED visit for people diagnosed with long COVID compared to people who only contracted COVID-19 and were not diagnosed with long COVID. In the six months after contracting long COVID, veterans eventually diagnosed with long COVID had a 34% higher risk of ED visits compared to those who contracted COVID-19 but never developed long COVID. Between three and six months post-infection, the risk of ED visits was 21% higher in the long COVID group. Long COVID can be a severe condition whose effects can last months after infection and diagnosis. Certain policies need to be implemented to manage the symptoms of this disease and reduce the need for emergency department services.