Long COVID among infected students and staff in Chiang Mai university, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Background: Although COVID-19 became endemic status in September 2022, studies and monitoring of individuals infected with COVID-19 have revealed that some develop Long COVID.This study aims to describe the prevalence of Long COVID and related factors among COVID-19-infected university students and staff in Thailand.Methods: This study used a retrospective cohort design to investigate Long COVID and its associated factors among university students and staff members who had previously tested positive for COVID-19 and reported their results to the University COVID-19 Reporting system between February 21 and June 30, 2022.Results: The results indicated that the prevalence of Long COVID was 51.9 %.Among them 92.7 % had multiple symptoms.The most common symptoms were fatigue (65.8 %), easy tiredness (59.2 %), and easy tiredness after physical activity (44.7 %).Multiple logistic regression showed that factors associated with Long COVID were female compared to male (aOR = 2.228, 95 % CI = 1.743-2.849),and aged 20-29 years compared to being under 20 years old (aOR = 1.288, 95 % CI = 1.005-1.650).People with comorbidities compared to those without (aOR = 1.503, 95%CI = 1.099-2.056).People with the highest severity compared to those with mild severity (aOR = 2.041, 95%CI = 1.380-3.018),as well as those infected with Covid-19 twice or more compared to those infected once (aOR = 2.014, 95%CI = 1.346-3.012). Conclusion:Long COVID symptoms should be closely monitored, particularly in individuals with underlying health conditions and those who experienced severe symptoms during their COVID-19 infection.