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Long COVID and Its Impact on Daily Functioning: Findings from the Si-Panda Behavioural Insights Survey in Slovenia Cover

Long COVID and Its Impact on Daily Functioning: Findings from the Si-Panda Behavioural Insights Survey in Slovenia

Slovenian Journal of Public Health
Volume 65 (2026): Issue 2 (June 2026)
By: ,  ,  ,  ,   and    
Open Access
|Jun 2026
Figures & tables

Figures & Tables

Figure 1.

Structure of the studied sample.

Table 1.

Characteristics of respondents who have never infected vs. those infected at least once with the SARS-CoV-2.

Never infectedInfected with SARS-CoV-2 at least once
% (n)% (n)p
TotalTotal, 18–74 years45.8 (2,727)54.2 (3,234)
GenderMale48.2 (1,314)46.6 (1,507)0.222
Female51.8 (1,413)53.4 (1,727)
Age18–2911.4 (310)18.5 (598)*< 0.0001
30–4933.1 (902)45.3 (1,466)*
50–6433.1 (902)*25.2 (814)
65–7422.5 (613)*11.0 (356)
EducationSecondary or less57.6 (1,572)*47.1 (1,525)< 0.0001
Tertiary or higher42.4 (1,156)52.9 (1,709)*
Employment statusActive55.3 (1,507)69.1 (2,233)*< 0.0001
Non-active39.5 (1,076)*26.8 (868)
Vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2No22.5 (613)33.2 (1,074)*< 0.0001
Yes77.5 (2,114)*66.8 (2,160)
At least one chronic diseaseNo61.1 (1,668)63.9 (2,065)*0.013
Yes38.9 (1,060)*36.1 (1,169)
Risky stress behaviourNo96.1 (2,621)96.1 (3,109)0.910
Yes3.9 (107)3.9 (125)
Mental well-beingRisk of a depressive disorder8.4 (230)9.2 (297)< 0.0001
Poor mental well-being19.4 (529)24.5 (792)*
Excellent mental well-being72.2 (1,969)*66.3 (2,145)

Legend:

* p value < 0.05 (statistically significant difference between respondents infected with SARS-CoV-2 at least once and those never infected; the * indicates a significantly larger percentage in the category of the explanatory variable).

Figure 2.

Presence of persistent problems 3 months after any infection with SARS-CoV-2 that lasted for at least 2 months.

Table 2.

Characteristics of respondents who have been infected at least once with SARS-CoV-2, with and without long COVID (n = 3,234).

Without Long COVIDWith Long COVID
% (n)% (n)p
Total infectedTotal infected, 18–74 years83.9 (2,714)16.1 (520)
GenderMale47.8 (1,297)*40.4 (210)0.002
Female52.2 (1,417)59.6 (310)*
Age18–2918.5 (503)18.2 (94)0.009
30–4945.0 (1,221)47.0 (245)
50–6424.7 (669)27.8 (145)
65–7411.8 (320)*7.0 (36)
Vaccinated against SARS-Cov-2No33.7 (915)30.5 (159)0.154
Yes66.3 (1,798)69.5 (362)
EducationSecondary or less46.9 (1,273)48.3 (251)0.573
Tertiary or higher53.1 (1,440)51.7 (269)
Employment statusActive69.0 (1,872)69.4 (361)0.849
Non-active31.0 (841)30.6 (159)
At least one chronic diseaseNo66.0 (1,792)*52.6 (274)< 0.0001
Yes34.0 (922)47.4 (247)*
Risky stress behaviourNo97.4 (2,644)*89.3 (464)< 0.0001
Yes2.6 (69)10.7 (56)*
Mental well-beingRisk of a depressive disorder7.3 (197)19.2 (100)*< 0.0001
Poor mental well-being23.1 (627)31.6 (164)*
Excellent mental well-being69.6 (1,889)*49.2 (256)
Infected with SARS-CoV-2Once70.3 (1,907)*58.4 (304)< 0.0001
Twice26.9 (729)34.7 (180)*
Three times or more2.9 (78)6.9 (36)*
At least one severe episode of COVID-19No80.5 (2,185)*46.1 (240)< 0.0001
Yes19.5 (528)53.9 (280)*

Legend:

* p value < 0.05 (statistically significant difference between respondents without long COVID and those with long COVID; the * indicates a significantly larger percentage in the category of the explanatory variable).

Table 3.

Logistic regression results of factors associated with the occurrence of long COVID.

95% C.I. for EXP(B)
BS.E.WalddfSig.Exp(B)LowerUpper
Age (65–74)Reference
(18–29)0.4410.2343.55810.0591.5540.9832.456
(30–49)0.6260.2376.97710.0081.8701.1752.975
(50–64)0.6080.2306.99310.0081.8371.1702.883
Gender (Male)Reference
(Female)0.1840.1072.97210.0851.2020.9751.481
Education (Tertiary or higher)Reference
(Secondary or less)0.0640.1070.35210.5531.0660.8641.315
Employment status (Non-active)Reference
(Active)−0.0240.1420.02810.8660.9760.7391.289
At least one chronic disease (No)Reference
(Yes)0.4310.10915.5961< 0.00011.5381.2421.905
Vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 (No)Reference
(Yes)0.2780.1155.84310.0161.3211.0541.655
Risky stress behaviour (No)Reference
(Yes)0.7590.22211.65710.0012.1361.3823.302
Mental well-being(Excellent mental well-being)Reference
(Risk of a depressive disorder)0.9080.16729.6721< 0.00012.4781.7883.435
(Poor mental well-being)0.5020.11818.0151< 0.00011.6521.3102.083
Infected with SARS-CoV-2 (Once)Reference
(Twice)0.2540.1154.90610.0271.2901.0301.615
(Three times or more)0.8300.23612.3971< 0.00012.2931.4453.640
At least one severe episode of COVID-19 (No)Reference
(Yes)1.3850.106171.4141< 0.00013.9933.2464.913
Constant−3.5550.250202.8801< 0.00010.029

[i] Legend: B – coefficients; S.E. – standard error; Wald – Wald statistic; df – degrees of freedom; Sig. – p - value; Exp(B) – odds ratio; C.I. – confidence interval

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjph-2026-0013 | Journal eISSN: 1854-2476 | Journal ISSN: 0351-0026
Journal RSS Feed
Language: English, Slovenian
Page range: 104 - 113
Submitted on: Jan 22, 2026
Accepted on: Apr 14, 2026
Published on: Jun 1, 2026
Published by: National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Keywords:
SARS-CoV-2 virus,
Consequences,
Long COVID,
Number of infections,
Risk of a depressive disorder
Related subjects:
Medicine,
Clinical medicine,
Hygiene and environmental medicine

© 2026 Helena Jeriček Klanšček, Maruša Rehberger, Andreja Belščak Čolaković, Marina Šinko, Darja Lavtar, Ada Hočevar Grom, published by National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 65 (2026): Issue 2 (June 2026)
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