Investigating the prevalence of long COVID in Scotland

Introduction

This publication brings together new and previously published analyses of self-reported long COVID prevalence in Scotland. A coherent picture of long COVID prevalence in Scotland improves our understanding of how many people are living with long COVID and provides insights into the characteristics of the population most susceptible.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the term ‘long COVID’ has been internationally recognised, however there is currently no unified definition. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) defines long COVID as “a multi-system condition with a range of debilitating symptoms — signs and symptoms continue or develop after acute COVID-19, continue for more than four weeks, and are not explained by an alternative diagnosis”.  

Estimates of long COVID in Scotland are currently published by several sources of official statistics including the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Scottish Health Survey (SHeS). The estimates produced by each of these sources differ from one another. This may be due to differences in the definition of long COVID used and/or the time period covered. Further, as instances of long COVID are self-reported rather than clinically diagnosed, it is possible there are cases of misclassification. Despite this, it is beneficial to consider all the existing official statistics data on self-reported long COVID, along with the new estimates presented in this report, to improve our understanding of the impact of long COVID in Scotland.

This written report presents new analysis for Scotland for the four-week period ending 5 March 2023, using data from the ONS Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey. Long COVID prevalence estimates are presented by sex, age, Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) quintile group, pre-existing health/disability status, duration since first COVID-19 infection and NHS contact at first COVID-19 infection. Further breakdowns of these characteristics by activity limitation and duration since first COVID-19 infection, as well as a time series from the four-week period ending 4 April 2022, are included in the supplementary data tables.

These new estimates provide vital insights into the characteristics of those disproportionately affected by long COVID, and the extent to which it limited their daily activities.

In this publication, a change in trend has been described as an increase or decrease, or differences between groups have been described as higher or lower, if the accompanying confidence intervals of the estimates being compared do not overlap (see the methodology section).

An Official Statistics Publication for Scotland

These statistics are official statistics. Official statistics are statistics that are produced by crown bodies, those acting on behalf of crown bodies, or those specified in statutory orders, as defined in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

Scottish Government statistics are regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

More information about Scottish Government statistics is available on the Scottish Government website.