Key takeaways:

• A study found the chronic condition is still an issue for healthcare workers.
• The study’s lead author called the findings “sobering.”

A multicenter cohort analysis revealed that more than 1 in 10 healthcare workers in the United States endure moderate-to-severe long COVID symptoms that can linger for months.

The findings “highlight the personal toll” COVID-19 has placed on healthcare workers (HCWs), study author Eric Kontowicz, PhD, MPH, told Healio.

Data derived from Kontowicz E, et al. Am J Ind Med. 2026;doi:10.1002/ajim.70140.

“Many continued caring for patients through repeated exposures, and for some, that cost has lasted well beyond their initial infection,” said Kontowicz, an associate research scientist at the University of Iowa.

The study included 1,742 participants who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 at enrollment. Out of the 1,496 participants (85.9%) who completed both 3- and 6-month surveys, 169 (11.3%) reported at least one long COVID symptom — a finding that Kontowicz called “sobering.”

Fatigue was the most common persistent symptom at both 3 (7.97%) and 6 months (10.62%), according to the study. The next most reported long COVID symptoms at 3 months included sleep difficulties (5.02%), joint pain (4.77%), headache (4.58%), congestion (3.62%) and anxiety/panic (3.38%). These were also the most reported symptoms after fatigue at 6 months (joint pain, 7.65%; congestion, 6.83%; headache, 6.39%; sleep difficulties, 6.32%; anxiety/panic, 6.26%).

The study, published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, tracked HCWs from 17 states from August 2022 to May 2024 — a timeframe that proves long COVID remains an “ongoing burden” and “not just a legacy” of the pandemic’s early days, Kontowicz said.

Certain HCW groups, including workers who were women vs. men (adjusted OR = 3.05; 95% CI, 1.58-5.86) and those who had at least two vs. fewer than two underlying health problems (aOR = 2.49; 95% CI, 1.66-3.73), faced greater chances of chronic symptoms, the research showed. Additionally, the odds were also greater among those with vs. without a prior infection (aOR = 1.78; 95% CI, 1.14-2.78).

Age significantly raised the likelihood of developing long COVID symptoms. Compared with young adults aged 18 to 29 years, people aged 50 to 64 years faced nearly double the odds of experiencing persistent symptoms (aOR = 1.94; 95% CI, 1.09-3.49), whereas the odds for people aged 65 years or older were more than triple (aOR = 3.52; 95% CI, 1.5-8.25).

Among the other findings, the researchers reported that HCWs who had a graduate degree or higher faced lower odds (aOR = 0.46; 95% CI, 0.25–0.82) of persistent long COVID symptoms than participants who did not.

Kontowicz said the one finding that “stood out” was 16% of nonclinical workers showed lingering symptoms — roughly six percentage points more than the overall cohort.

“We can’t yet say why,” he said of the variance, “but differences in exposure, access to respiratory protection, and flexibility to recover are all possibilities worth studying.”

Kontowicz pointed out that, although his team’s study did not prove recent vaccination lowered the chances for long COVID, “broader evidence” in other studies has shown that to be the case. According to the CDC, research proves that vaccination “is the best available tool” to avoid long COVID.

“Staying up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccines is a reasonable way for all HCWs, including older workers, to reduce their risk,” Kontowicz said.

Ultimately, Kontowicz said, his team’s study showed how “long COVID affects the whole healthcare workforce, not just bedside clinicians, and occupational health support should reach everyone.”

For more information:

Eric Kontowicz, PhD, MPH, can be reached at eric-kontowicz@uiowa.edu.