Long COVID hits women harder than men, study finds
The prospective cohort data show only a minority of hospitalised patients of either sex recover fully in the short term
Women hospitalised with COVID-19 are almost 40% more likely than men to have ongoing symptoms after six months, according to a major study.
The UK Post-Hospitalisation COVID-19 (PHOSP-COVID) study, which followed more than 1000 patients, found that only 29% described themselves as fully recovered after six months.
The researchers classified patients with long COVID into four categories — very severe, severe, moderate and mild — based on physical and mental impairment.
In the very severe group, comprising about 17% of patients, almost one in two had left or changed their job because of ongoing symptoms compared with an overall figure of one in five.
