Introduction
Long COVID (LC) remains a public health challenge, with millions of US adults continuing to experience its debilitating effects. Although studies have identified characteristics linked to LC and recovery from LC,1,2 questions remain about its scope and trajectory. Using nationally representative data, we estimate LC prevalence and recovery and assess how associated factors have evolved.
Discussion
In 2024, 8.3% of US adults—an estimated 21.3 million—reported ever having LC, among whom nearly 6 in 10 reported recovery, consistent with RECOVER initiative4 findings showing similar LC prevalence in 2023 and 2024 and longitudinal Veterans Affairs data demonstrating declining LC prevalence.5 Yet many adults, particularly those 35 years or older, continue to experience lasting symptoms. With no LC treatment demonstrating clear efficacy, greater investment in understanding biological mechanisms, including immunotypic differences between those who recover and those who do not, may provide insights into pathways of persistence and potential targets for intervention.6
This study has limitations. Self-reported LC and recovery may be misclassified, potentially biasing associations with sociodemographic factors; individuals with intermittent symptoms may be misclassified as recovered, inflating recovery estimates; the repeated cross-sectional design across survey years may reflect population-level prevalence rather than individual recovery trajectories; timing of acute COVID-19 infection and recovery was unavailable, precluding inclusion of time-dependent covariates such as COVID-19 vaccination status; and the narrow definition of LC, assessed at any time since the pandemic’s start, may affect prevalence estimates. Nevertheless, self-report remains the only way to assess LC in population data.
