Cross-sectional study of health impairment related to post COVID-19 condition among participants of a large population-based cohort in Germany
Post COVID-19 condition (PCC) is a substantial burden for patients, society, and the healthcare system. Participants of the German National Cohort (NAKO) were asked in an online survey about their self-perceived health, symptoms related to PCC, and infection status. PCC was defined as reporting symptoms for the time window 4-12 months after infection. Of 110,375 respondents (73% response), 86,833 were included in this analysis. Of these, 44,451 (51%) did not report a SARS-CoV-2 infection (no infection), 26,726 (31%) reported an infection but no symptoms 4-12 months after infection (infection/no PCC), and 15,656 (18%) reported an infection and symptoms (PCC). The median number of current symptoms at the time of the survey was two for the "no infection" and the "infection/no PCC" group, and five for the "PCC" group. Participants with PCC had a substantially higher probability of having worse self-perceived health (OR 1.84, 95% CI [1.75; 1.93] compared to the "no infection" group, adjusting for sex, age, education and chronic diseases with elevated risk for developing PCC. After adjusting for the number of current symptoms related to PCC, this difference disappeared, suggesting that the symptoms collected explain the impairment of self-perceived health in the PCC group.
Authors
- Karin Halina Greiser (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3213-8285)
- Claudia Meinke‐Franze (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6137-9702)
- Sabine Gabrysch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7081-0506)
- Thomas Keil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6124-0655)
- Julia Fricke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7625-474X)
- Carolina Judith Klett-Tammen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9685-5369)
- Ilais Moreno Velásquez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6058-8983)
- Jonas Frost (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2068-5958)
- Rudolf Kaaks (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3751-3929)
- Michael F. Leitzmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0371-2789)
- Tamara Schikowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4559-9374)
- Laura R Pfrommer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1763-2336)
- Börge Schmidt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6948-7273)
- Volker Harth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4308-223X)
- Hajo Zeeb (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7509-242X)
- Benedikt Lampl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1008-7934)
- Sophie Diexer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2498-8458)
- Nadia Obi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0903-9142)
- Oliver Purschke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0444-0882)
- Karin B. Michels (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5137-5505)
- Hermann Brenner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6129-1572)
- Lilian Krist (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6089-5163)
- André Karch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3014-8543)
- Marvin N. Wright (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8542-6291)
- Wolfgang Lieb
- Nicole Rübsamen
- Henry Völzke
- Jana-Kristin Heise
- Annette Peters
- Bianca Klee
- Tobias Pischon
- Peter Ahnert
- Sigrid Thierry
- Till Baernighausen
- Rafael Mikolajczyk
Institutions
- OTH Regensburg (DE)
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Harvard University (US)
- Universität Hamburg (DE)
- University of Freiburg (DE)
- University of Augsburg (DE)
- German Cancer Research Center (DE)
- University of Bremen (DE)
- Max Delbrück Center (DE)
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- University of Münster (DE)
- University of Würzburg (DE)
- Universitätsmedizin Greifswald (DE)
- Luther University (KR)
- University Hospital Augsburg (DE)
- University Hospital Heidelberg (DE)
- Helmholtz Zentrum München (DE)
- Leibniz Association (DE)
- Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (DE)
- Leibniz Institute of Environmental Medicine (DE)
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (DE)
- Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS (DE)
- German Center for Infection Research (DE)
- Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (DE)
- German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DE)
- Landesamt für Geologie, Rohstoffe und Bergbau (DE)
- DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance (DE)
- Deutsches Diabetes-Zentrum e.V. (DE)
- German Center for Diabetes Research (DE)
- Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (DE)
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (DE)
- University of Regensburg (DE)
- University of Duisburg-Essen (DE)
- Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (DE)
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (DE)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
- Leipzig University (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2025-07-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-07894-7
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Long-Term Effects of COVID-19
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.39
Funders
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- Leibniz-Gemeinschaft