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Published on: December 19, 2020
Post-Acute COVID-19 Symptoms Clusters and Work Status
Aoyjai Prapanjaroensin Montgomery1, Nathaniel Erdmann2, Wanda Hall3
1Department of Family, Community and Health Systems, School of Nursing, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
Occupational Health
|August 4, 2026
Summary
Long COVID, or post-COVID conditions, significantly impacts work. Neurocognitive symptoms like brain fog were linked to higher rates of not working, suggesting a need for targeted support.
Area of Science:
- Medical Research
- Public Health
- Occupational Health
Background:
- Long COVID (post-COVID conditions) affects 10-20% of SARS-CoV-2 survivors.
- Symptoms are heterogeneous, multi-system, and can persist for months to years.
- This condition causes significant workforce disruption and reduced functional capacity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify symptom clusters in individuals with long COVID.
- To examine personal and clinical characteristics associated with these clusters.
- To assess the impact of symptom clusters on work status.
Main Methods:
- An exploratory study involving 273 individuals from a single clinical site.
- Baseline surveys captured long COVID symptoms.
- Follow-up surveys assessed work status.
- K-means clustering was used to identify symptom groupings.
Main Results:
- Three preliminary clusters were identified: 'brain fog' (fatigue, memory, concentration issues), 'undifferentiated', and 'persistent acute' (cough, congestion, headaches, body aches).
- The 'brain fog' cluster showed high rates of fatigue (96%), difficulty remembering (97%), and concentrating (94%).
- Among 'brain fog' respondents, 44% were not working, with about half attributing absence to COVID-related symptoms.
Conclusions:
- Neurocognitive symptom clusters, like 'brain fog', may be associated with increased work absence in long COVID patients.
- These findings are hypothesis-generating due to the small sample size.
- Targeted occupational rehabilitation strategies for post-infectious cognitive impairment warrant further investigation.
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