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Volume 31, Supplement—December 2025

SUPPLEMENT ISSUE
Supplement

Functional Limitations and Illness-Related Absenteeism among School-Aged Children with and without Long COVID, United States, 2022–2023

Nicole D. FordComments to Author , Regina M. Simeone, Caroline Pratt, and Sharon Saydah
Author affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Main Article

Table 3

Illness-related absenteeism among children in a study of functional limitations and illness-related absenteeism among school-aged children with and without long COVID, United States, 2022–2023*

Absenteeism Weighted no. (%) [95% CI]
 p value†
Had long COVID Never had long COVID
Total analytic sample 1,538,000 105,255,000
No. sick days <0.001
0 311,000 (20.3) [13.5–28.5] 33,808,000 (32.4) [31.3–33.6]
1–5 421,000 (27.4) [20.4–35.4] 47,782,000 (45.9) [44.8–47.0]
6–17 588,000 (38.3) [29.7–47.6] 18,873,000 (18.1) [17.2–19.0]
18–29 49,000 (3.2) [1.1–7.1] 2,203,000 (2.1) [1.8–2.5]
>30 165,000 (10.7) [5.7–18.0] 1,530,000 (1.5) [1.2–1.8]
Chronic absence‡
 214,000 (13.9) [8.5–21.1]
 3,733,000 (3.5) [3.1–4.0]
 <0.001
Subsample of children with prior COVID-19 1,538,000 41,511,000
No. sick days <0.001
0 311,000 (20.3) [13.5–28.5] 9,473,000 (23.0) [21.6–24.6]
1–5 421,000 (27.4) [20.4–35.4] 18,950,000 (46.1) [44.3–47.8]
6–17 588,000 (38.3) [29.7–47.6] 10,659,000 (25.9) [24.4–27.5]
18–29 49,000 (3.2) [1.1–7.1] 1,201,000 (2.9) [2.4–3.6]
>30 165,000 (10.7) [5.7–18.0] 844,000 (2.1) [1.6–2.6]
Chronic absence‡ 214,000 (13.9) [8.5–21.1] 2,045,000 (4.9) [4.2–5.7] <0.001

*Data are from the National Health Interview Survey (5,6). Numbers are weighted, are rounded to the nearest thousand, and might vary because of missing data. All estimates are weighted, account for complex sampling, and meet National Center for Health Statistics data standards. Parents of children with prior COVID-19 (mild, moderate, or severe symptoms or unknown symptom severity during acute illness [2022] and all children with prior COVID-19 irrespective of acute illness symptom severity [2023]) were asked about ongoing symptoms using the question “Did [NAME] have any symptoms lasting 3 months or longer that [she/he] did not have prior to having COVID-19?” Children with an affirmative response were classified as having long COVID. Children who never had COVID-19 and those who had COVID-19 but never had ongoing symptoms were classified as never having long COVID. NA, not applicable. †p values are for Rao-Scott χ2 tests for sociodemographic and health characteristics comparing children who ever and never had long COVID. ‡Chronic absence from school for health reasons was defined as missing >18 days of school due to illness or injury during the 12 months preceding the survey.

Main Article

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Page created: January 07, 2026
Page updated: January 22, 2026
Page reviewed: January 22, 2026
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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