Citation: Krysa, J.A.; Buell, M.; Pohar Manhas, K.; Kovacs Burns, K.; Santana, M.J.; Horlick, S.; Russell, K.; Papathanassoglou, E.; Ho, C. Understanding the Experience of Long COVID Symptoms in Hospitalized and Non-Hospitalized Individuals: A Random, Cross-Sectional Survey Study. Healthcare 2023, 11, 1309. https:// doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11091309 Academic Editors: Sofia Koukouli and Areti Stavropoulou Received: 21 March 2023 Revised: 21 April 2023 Accepted: 28 April 2023 Published: 3 May 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). healthcare Article Understanding the Experience of Long COVID Symptoms in Hospitalized and Non-Hospitalized Individuals: A Random, Cross-Sectional Survey Study Jacqueline A. Krysa 1,2 , Mikayla Buell 1,3 , Kiran Pohar Manhas 1,3 , Katharina Kovacs Burns 4,5 , Maria J. Santana 3 , Sidney Horlick 1,6 , Kristine Russell 1 , Elizabeth Papathanassoglou 1,6 and Chester Ho 1,2, * 1 Neurosciences, Rehabilitation and Vision, Strategic Clinical Network, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, AB T5J 3E4, Canada 2 Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E1, Canada 3 Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada 4 School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9, Canada 5 Department of Clinical Quality Metrics, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, AB T5J 3E4, Canada 6 Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB T6G 1C9, Canada * Correspondence: chester.ho@albertahealthservices.ca; Tel.: +1-780-735-8870 Abstract: The relationship between initial COVID-19 infection and the development of long COVID remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to compare the experience of long COVID in previously hospitalized and non-hospitalized adults in a community-based, cross-sectional telephone survey. Participants included persons with positive COVID-19 test results between 21 March 2021 and 21 October 2021 in Alberta, Canada. The survey included 330 respondents (29.1% response rate), which included 165 previously hospitalized and 165 non-hospitalized individuals. Significantly more previously hospitalized respondents self-reported long COVID symptoms (81 (49.1%)) compared to non-hospitalized respondents (42 (25.5%), p < 0.0001). Most respondents in both groups experienced these symptoms for more than 6 months (hospitalized: 66 (81.5%); non-hospitalized: 25 (59.5), p = 0.06). Hospitalized respondents with long COVID symptoms reported greater limitations on everyday activities from their symptoms compared to non-hospitalized respondents (p < 0.0001) and tended to experience a greater impact on returning to work (unable to return to work—hospitalized: 20 (19.1%); non-hospitalized: 6 (4.5%), p < 0.0001). No significant differences in self-reported long COVID symptoms were found between male and female respondents in both groups (p > 0.05). This study provides novel data to further support that individuals who were hospitalized for COVID-19 appear more likely to experience long COVID symptoms. Keywords: long COVID; hospitalization; patient experience; COVID-19 recovery; COVID-19 severity and impact 1. Introduction In Canada, 4.42 million individuals have recovered from COVID-19, of which over 100,000 were hospitalized [1]. The World Health Organization defines post-COVID con- ditions as any new, recurring, or lingering symptoms that persist for at least 12 weeks following acute COVID-19 infection and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis [2]. Long COVID is a more general term used to describe new or ongoing signs and symptoms that develop after recovery from acute COVID-19 and includes ongoing symptomatic COVID-19 (4–12 weeks since initial recovery) and post-COVID conditions (12 weeks or more since initial recovery) [3]. Current estimates of long COVID prevalence vary region- ally and between COVID-19 variants [4,5]. The Canadian COVID-19 Antibody and Health Survey (CCAHS-2) described the experience of long-term symptoms after a COVID-19 Healthcare 2023, 11, 1309. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11091309 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/healthcare