Long COVID in the context of social determinants of health

Nada Lukkahatai; Tamar Rodney; Catherine Ling; Brittany Daniel; Hae-Ra Han

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1098443

Long COVID in the context of social determinants of health

Front Public Health. 2023 Mar 28:11:1098443. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1098443. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Nada Lukkahatai¹, Tamar Rodney¹, Catherine Ling¹, Brittany Daniel¹, Hae-Ra Han^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States.
² Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge for the public health system and has highlighted health disparities. COVID-19 vaccines have effectively protected against infection and severe disease, but some patients continue to suffer from symptoms after their condition is resolved. These post-acute sequelae, or long COVID, continues to disproportionately affect some patients based on their social determinants of health (SDOH). This paper uses the World Health Organization's (WHO) SDOH conceptual framework to explore how SDOH influences long COVID outcomes.

Keywords: health disparities; health equality; long COVID; post-acute sequelae SARS-CoV-2 infection; social determinants of health.

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
COVID-19 / epidemiology
COVID-19 / prevention & control
COVID-19 Vaccines / administration & dosage
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Pandemics
Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome* / epidemiology
Social Determinants of Health* / statistics & numerical data
World Health Organization

Substances

COVID-19 Vaccines