Cripping rehabilitation: A disability justice approach to research and practice.

Long COVID serves as a salient example of a post-infectious syndrome, illustrating the broader phenomenon in which a subset of individuals experience prolonged, often debilitating symptoms following the resolution of an acute infection. Although a majority of individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 recover in the short term, 10–20% of people (estimated 10–20 million cases worldwide) exhibit persistent symptoms, referred to as “long COVID” or post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 [-]. According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, long COVID is classified as an infection-associated chronic condition that develops following a SARS-CoV-2 infection and persists for at least three months []. It may present as a continuous, relapsing–remitting, or progressive disease affecting one or more organ systems []. Four classifications of post-COVID symptoms have been proposed: (A) transition phase (symptoms onset to 5 weeks), (B) acute post-COVID symptoms (5–12 weeks), (C) long COVID symptoms (12–24 weeks), and (D) persistent post-COVID symptoms (symptoms lasting longer than 24 weeks) []. Long COVID syndromes encompass a wide range of symptoms across systems including neurocognitive (dizziness, loss of attention, brain fog, confusion), autonomic (tachycardia, chest pain, palpitations), gastrointestinal (abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting), respiratory (cough, sore throat, fatigue, dyspnea), musculoskeletal post-COVID (myalgias, arthralgias), and psychological-related post-COVID (depression, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety) symptoms []. Prior studies have suggested multiple subtypes of long COVID; however, methods for identifying subgroups are not established, and the identified subtypes of long COVID are not consistent across study populations [-]. Millions are now dealing with various manifestations of long COVID, and the symptoms can impact lifestyle and work. A group of researchers from the United Kingdom and the United States conducted an international cohort study (3762 participants from 56 countries) on how prolonged COVID-19 symptoms impact daily functioning and found 45% of participants required a reduced work schedule and an additional 22% were not working due to COVID-19 symptoms []. The United States Census Bureau collaborated with multiple federal agencies to survey the social and economic effects on American households during the pandemic []. As of November 2022, over 27 million households reported the loss of employment income, while 1.5 million were laid off or furloughed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and 1.6 million were sick or caring for someone with COVID-19 []. It is important to understand the long-term physical, psychological, and cognitive consequences of long COVID from a population perspective and how these symptoms affect occupational functioning. The purposes of this study were to (1) explore symptom clusters following SARS-CoV-2 infection, (2) characterize the personal (age, gender, race) and clinical (hospitalization, length of stay, and COVID-19 diagnosis date) characteristics based on exploratory symptom clusters, and (3) examine work status and reason for not working based on exploratory symptom clusters. This is a secondary data analysis of a parent study called the ‘COVID-19 Enterprise Biorepository and Data Registry,’ which was designed to support the systematic recruitment of individuals with acute COVID-19 and the collection of specimens and clinical data with longitudinal follow-up. The project setting was an urban academic health science center located in the southeastern United States and began in April 2020 as the first cases of COVID-19 were being reported in the region. This academic health center is the 3rd largest public hospital in the United States. The hospital has 1207 licensed beds and sees an average of 55,000 admissions per year and 6000 ambulatory visits per day, and since 2002 is a five-time American Nurse Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet-designated facility. From April 2020 to February 2022, there were 96,680 total admissions, of which 7467 (8%) had a COVID-19 diagnosis.