People from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to experience prolonged Covid-19 symptoms, a new study has found.
Researchers at King’s College London (KCL) found that pre-existing social inequalities affect recovery from Covid-19. Specifically, social factors such as education level, financial stability, and the areas where people live significantly influenced whether individuals reported recovery from the virus more than a year after infection.
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The findings are published in BMJ Public Health and add to growing evidence that social factors shape health outcomes.
The researchers examined data from two UK health data banks, the COVID Symptom Study Biobank (CSSB) and TwinsUK, for 3,882 participants who self-reported data on recovery from Covid-19. Using a statistical regression model, the researchers could estimate the causal effects of pre-pandemic social factors (sex, education level, and local area deprivation) on recovery and how these factors overlapped to influence recovery. Additionally, the researchers examined the experiences such as financial hardship, healthcare access and social support during the pandemic.
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Social and economic inequalities played a significant role in Covid-19 recovery. Women with the lowest level of education and highest deprivation had the worst recovery rates. The predicted probability of recovery was 55.1 per cent for women from the CSSB cohort and 73.9 per cent from the TwinUK cohort.
Men with the highest levels of education and lowest levels of social deprivation had the highest recovery rates and were most likely to report feeling fully recovered. This group predicted probability of recovery rates of 79.1 per cent in the CSSB cohort and 89.7 per cent in the TwinsUK cohort.
Participants with fewer social and economic advantages at the start of the pandemic were more likely to have ongoing Covid-19 symptoms. The disparities were found to be a result of hardships suffered during the pandemic and broader social disadvantages, such as adverse employment, financial issues and healthcare access during the pandemic, rather than pre-pandemic health.
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Dr Nathan Cheetham, senior postdoctoral data scientist at KCL and lead author of the paper, said: ‘Inequalities in health between people who are more or less advantaged within society aren’t new, but this study is the first to look at the association between multiple socio-demographic factors and recovery from Covid-19. It’s very likely that social factors also influence the ability to recover from other illnesses and manage other long-term conditions, which makes addressing social disadvantage even more crucial.’
