Older women who had COVID-19 and long COVID subsequently reported lower physical function scores and a declining ability to perform activities of daily living without help compared to those who never had COVID-19, a new study finds.
More than one-third of the nearly 14,000 women studied experienced long COVID, the authors found. Women tend to experience long COVID more than men, according to authors of a [study](https://agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jgs.19434) published Monday in the _Journal of the American Geriatrics Society._
Researchers used data from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI); specifically from people who participated in the COVID-19 survey (2021–2022) and the annual survey in 2022. The team evaluated their individual physical function and ability to complete activities of daily living using a survey.
Of the 13,933 participants, 71.4% were aged 80 and above, 8.7% had COVID-19 and 35.1% had long COVID. Among those with long COVID, 18.2% had fatigue, 12.2% experienced malaise, 12.1% had memory issues and 11.2% had brain fog.
The team found that the difference in physical function scores between women who had COVID-19 and those who had [long COVID](https://www.mcknights.com/news/3-year-study-shows-persistent-long-term-covid-19-effects-especially-in-hospitalized-patients/) was greater among women who had higher physical function scores before they had COVID-19. This compares to women who had lower physical function scores before getting the infection.
In other words, women who had higher physical function scores before they had the infection may have experienced a greater impact from COVID-19 and long COVID in the way they function physically.
In people with long COVID, conducting regular screenings for physical function and activities of daily life ability could provide more opportunities to support them in the moment and preserve their physical function for the future, the team wrote.
Previous research has uncovered that people who have had COVID-19 may experience incomplete recovery of physical function and long-term impairments one to two years after being infected, the authors pointed out.