New survey data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that Americans have experienced long COVID at an estimated rate of nearly 7%, with an estimated 3.5% reporting long COVID at the time of the survey interview, conducted in 2022. But rates weren't equal across the board: Women, adults ages 35-49, individuals of Hispanic origin, and those living in non-metropolitan areas were more likely to have had the condition.

The numbers, presented in a data brief from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, or NCHS, are based on responses from 27,651 community-dwelling adults who participated in the 2022 National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative household survey. Participants who reported ever receiving a positive COVID-19 test or a physician's diagnosis were asked if they had any symptoms that lasted three months or longer, and whether those symptoms were present at the time of interview.

Among the findings:

• Overall, 6.9% of respondents said that they had experienced long COVID, with 3.4% reporting current long COVID symptoms.
• In both the group to ever report symptoms and the group with current symptoms, women were significantly more likely to report long COVID, with 8.5% of women saying that they had experienced the condition in the past compared with 5.2% of men, and 4.4% of women reporting current symptoms compared with 2.3% of men.
• Adults ages 35-49 reported the highest incidence of long COVID (8.9%) compared with the 50-64 age group (7.6) and the 18-34 age group (6.9%). Adults 65 and older reported the lowest rates of ever having had long COVID, at 4.1%.
• Hispanic adults reported the highest incidence of ever having had long COVID (8.3%) compared with white non-Hispanic (7.1%), Black non-Hispanic (5.4%), and Asian non-Hispanic (2.6%) respondents. Among adults reporting current symptoms, Hispanic and white non-Hispanic adults reported roughly equal rates (3.4% and 3.7% respectively), while Asian non-Hispanic adults reported the lowest rate (1.1%). Black non-Hispanic respondents reported current symptoms at a rate of 2.4%.
• Based on the center's rural-urban classifications, adults in non-metropolitan areas reported the highest rates of "ever" (7.7%) and currently (4.1%) having long COVID, followed closely by adults living in medium and small metropolitan areas (7.6% ever, 3.9% current). Residents of large central metropolitan areas reported the lowest rates of long COVID, with 6.3% reporting ever having symptoms and 2.6% reporting current symptoms.

APTA offers multiple opportunities for members and the public to better understand the role of physical therapy in the treatment of long COVID, including a clinical summary, links to provider and patient resources, a collection of relevant research, and more. Consumers can learn more about the condition — and how PTs and PTAs can help — by visiting ChoosePT.com, APTA's consumer-facing website, which houses a collection of COVID-19 and long COVID content aimed at consumers. ChoosePT content includes educational resources, personal accounts of individuals experiencing long COVID, and links to ChoosePT.com's Find a PT tool that helps connect consumers with a PT in their area. If you focus on treating individuals with long COVID in your clinic, make sure to update your Find a PT profile and select COVID-19/Long COVID as a practice focus so consumers seeking a physical therapist familiar with treating its effects can find you.