Black Patients May Be Less Often Diagnosed with Long COVID Than White Patients in the US

Among 2.4 million patients, Black patients were less likely to be diagnosed with long COVID than White patients when at least one symptom was present.

• Long COVID may be inconsistently diagnosed due to subjective criteria and variations in health care access.
• The analysis involved electronic health records from patients diagnosed with acute COVID-19 between January 2022 and March 2023.
• A total of 222 symptoms and long COVID diagnoses were evaluated, adjusting for patient characteristics.
• No significant differences in long COVID diagnoses were found for racial and ethnic groups other than Black when compared to White patients.
• The observed differences in diagnosis likelihood could indicate potential diagnostic bias.

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