Abstract:
Background: Five years since the scientific and patient communities first identified the syndrome now known as Long COVID, affected individuals lack treatments, and the US lacks population-based data on its disability burden and correlation with National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. Moreover, akin to other debilitating conditions it often co-occurs with, e.g., Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and dysautonomia, Long COVID disproportionately impacts females whose concerns are often marginalized.
Methods: We quantify Long COVID years lived with disability (YLDs= prevalence x disability weight) in US adults and its actual/YLD-commensurate average annual NIH FY2022-2024 funding versus 68 comparator conditions, by sex predominance. We derive Long COVID prevalence from Census Bureau surveys (9/2022-8/2023) and apply disability weights from the Global Burden of Disease Study.
Results: Long COVID YLDs approximate those of Alzheimer’s and Asthma. Long COVID received 14% of its disability commensurate funding: $106 million vs. $739.8 million. ME/CFS is the most under-funded condition, receiving <1% of its YLD proportionate funding. Among conditions analyzed, 24 are female-predominant (we estimate Long COVID funding two ways), 12 male-predominant, and 33 show no sex predominance. Among the 12 below-median funded/above-median YLD conditions, 7/12 are female-predominant, none are male-predominant. Median funding/per YLD is 5.2 times higher for male- vs. female-predominant conditions (7.0 vs 1.3 million per YLD, p = 0.007). Overall, YLDs explain 6.5% of funding variance in a linear regression model using YLD as the sole predictor (Adjusted R-squared: 0.065).
Conclusions: With chronic conditions like Long COVID rising, disability burden merits greater consideration in funding decisions, as does biological sex.
Source: Bonuck K, Gao Q, Congdon S, Kim RS. Long COVID disability burden in US adults. Commun Med (Lond). 2026 Mar 31;6(1):177. doi: 10.1038/s43856-026-01516-7. PMID: 41917225. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43856-026-01516-7 (Full text)