Trajectories of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and subsequent risk of long COVID in the World Trade Center Health Registry.

OBJECTIVE

Though the etiology of long COVID is not well-understood, pre-existing mental health conditions have been identified as risk factors. We examined associations between post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSS) and long COVID among individuals exposed to the World Trade Center disaster.

METHODS

We used group-based trajectory modeling to identify five PTSS trajectories (resilient, low-stable, remitted, delayed onset, chronic-high) among enrollees in the World Trade Center Health Registry (2003-04 to 2020-2021). Among 5361 enrollees who reported a COVID-19 infection, we used modified Poisson regression to estimate risk ratios (RRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI) for associations of PTSS trajectories with self-reported long COVID symptoms.

RESULTS

In 2022-23, 41 % of enrollees reported long COVID symptoms. In models adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics and self-reported diagnosed physical health conditions and depression, associations with long COVID were observed for all trajectories compared to the resilient trajectory, which was characterized by very low PTSS at all points. RRs were similar among trajectory groups characterized by a high lifetime prevalence of probable PTSD (RRremitted = 1.83, 95 % CI = 1.64, 2.04; RRdelayed = 1.86, 95 % CI = 1.67, 2.06; RRchronic = 1.80, 95 % CI = 1.59, 2.03). Risk of long COVID was also elevated among individuals in the low-stable trajectory group, who had a lower lifetime prevalence of probable PTSD (RR = 1.46, 95 % CI = 1.35, 1.58).

CONCLUSION

Risk of long COVID is elevated among individuals with a history of PTSS, including among those whose symptoms have improved. Populations at high risk of PTSD, including those exposed to traumatic events, may benefit from targeted screening to identify those with long COVID.