Survey: 18 million Americans say they have long COVID. Really!

A very dubious survey by the CDC! Looks like a case of hysteria! Caveat: I did not have time to really dig into this subject.

Who helps to disseminates such dubious news: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Global Health NOW

It is not quite clear when the survey was actually conducted. The survey results are presented at percentages not as total numbers. Thus, the 18 million is dubious too (e.g. the hyperlink to the data source in the article below is broken). So somebody extrapolated sample percentages into absolute population numbers.

On a daily basis, we have been inundated for a long time with a barrage of news of long Covid-19 effects etc. How much is real and truly related to Covid-19? So how much are respondents influenced by that?

"Today [9/26/2023], the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics released the 2022 National Health Interview Survey results, which show that roughly 18 million Americans said they have ever had long COVID, and 8.8 million said they currently have the condition. ...

In the current survey, 27,651 respondents were asked, "Did you have any symptoms lasting 3 months or longer that you did not have prior to having COVID-19?" [a very dubious and suggestive question] The current long-COVID definition was based on the presence of symptoms at the time of interview. ..."

"Key findings

Data from the National Health Interview Survey

• In 2022, 6.9% of adults ever had Long COVID and 3.4% had Long COVID at the time of interview (currently have Long COVID); women were more likely than men to ever have or currently have Long COVID.
• Adults ages 35–49 were the age group most likely to ever have (8.9%) or currently have (4.7%) Long COVID.
• The percentage of adults who ever had or currently had Long COVID varied by race and Hispanic origin.
• Adults with family incomes at 400% or more of the federal poverty level were less likely than those with family incomes at 200%–399% to ever have or currently have Long COVID.
• The percentage of adults who ever had Long COVID was lower in large central metropolitan areas compared with medium and small metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. Current Long COVID was lowest in large central metropolitan areas."

Survey: 18 million Americans say they have long COVID | CIDRAP (secondary source)

Long COVID in Adults: United States, 2022 (primary news source, CDC NCHS)