Long COVID prevalence was higher among females (10%), younger age groups (45‑54 years) (10%), those with higher education (9%), and those having another chronic condition (8%) (see Figure 5). This is consistent with the published literature, where Long COVID is consistently more prevalent among females and younger patients (Diexer et al., 2024[14]; Subramanian et al., 2022[4]). The likely explanation for higher prevalence among younger patients aged 45‑54 years is the increased risk of contracting COVID‑19 in younger patients, who were more likely to survive COVID‑19 and subsequently become at risk of developing Long COVID, compared to older patients who were likely to survive COVID‑19 (survival bias).
In addition, older patients are more likely to have chronic conditions, and may attribute the relatively non-specific symptoms of fatigue, memory impairment and reduced concentration due to Long COVID to a pre‑existing chronic condition, thus resulting in lower self-reported prevalence among older patients. Even in the absence of a chronic condition, 6% of primary care patients still report ever having Long COVID symptoms, underlining its high disease burden in the primary care population.
