Keywords
Hospitalization
Socioeconomic factors
Cross-sectional studies
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Abstract
Objective: To describe the profile of people with long COVID in the Brazilian Amazon and analyze factors associated with hospitalization during the acute phase. Methods: Cross-sectional study using baseline data from a prospective cohort conducted between 2020 and 2024 at a specialized service in Belém, Pará, Brazil. The study included 608 adults with confirmed or probable long COVID. Associations with hospitalization were estimated using Poisson regression with robust variance and expressed as adjusted prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Results: Women (68.4%) and adults aged 18–59 years (78.7%) predominated. Among 477 participants with available information, 110 (23.1%) reported hospitalization during the acute phase. In the adjusted model (n=470), male sex remained associated with a higher prevalence of hospitalization (aPR=1.74; 95%CI: 1.26–2.41). Income was globally associated with the outcome (p=0.014), in a direction opposite to that expected, while education showed borderline global evidence of association (p=0.054). Conclusion: Among people with long COVID included in this sample, male sex remained associated with a higher prevalence of acute-phase hospitalization after adjustment. Associations observed for education and income require cautious interpretation given sample selection and missing data. These findings are specific to this population and should not be interpreted as risk factors for COVID-19 hospitalization in the general population.
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