# Long-Term Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Self-Management of Chronic Conditions: The C3 Study

> **NIH NIH R01** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $682,908

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
We will extend an active NIA cohort study of diverse, middle age and older adults with ≥1 chronic
conditions to assess COVID-19’s long-term and disparate impact on health and healthcare experiences.
 COVID-19 has become an unprecedented public health threat in modern times, especially for older adults
with a chronic illness. As of January 2021, 94% of COVID deaths have been among adults over 55; 92% of those
who have died had ≥1 underlying health conditions. Beyond consequences to personal health associated with
acquiring COVID-19, the impact of the pandemic may likely extend to non-COVID-19 outcomes as a patient’s
ability to self-manage chronic conditions during and after a pandemic may be compromised for several reasons.
 In March 2020, our team rapidly launched the COVID-19 & Chronic Conditions (C3) study as cases of
COVID-19 emerged in the U.S. to assess how adults with ≥1 chronic conditions were responding to the
pandemic. Five active studies with uniform data collection on a range of patient-reported outcomes prior to
COVID-19 and with electronic health records access were leveraged to establish the C3 cohort; 673 adults in
Chicago were interviewed during the 1st week of the outbreak. The cohort was immediately expanded using two
of the ‘parent studies’ that also had sites in New York City (n=200; N=873). C3 participants are diverse by
socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, gender, health literacy, and comorbidity. An NIA COVID-19 supplement
was awarded in August 2020 to expand the cohort via the parent studies (N=1200) and continue data collection
up to 2022; 5 of 7 planned survey waves have been completed (83-94% retention). C3 findings reveal many
adults exhibit sustained, high stress due to COVID-19 that impacts lifestyle, treatment adherence, and healthcare
use. Disparities by sex, race, ethnicity, and SES also are present. Health professionals and researchers are now
voicing concern for possible long-term consequences of COVID-19 on personal health & healthcare.
 In response, we propose to continue to follow the C3 cohort to capture data 5 years post onset of the U.S.
outbreak. All participants will have a ‘Pre-COVID’ baseline and 7+ follow-up assessments to assess trajectories
in health care use, patient-reported & chronic disease outcomes. Our primary aims are to: 1) evaluate changes
in lifestyle, health behaviors, healthcare use, health status, and chronic disease outcomes from a pre-pandemic
baseline through 5 years after onset of COVID-19; 2) determine the extent to which stress, anxiety, and
depression contribute to poor health status and chronic disease outcomes through 5 years after the pandemic’s
onset. Our secondary aim is to: 3) identify factors that mediate or moderate associations between stress,
anxiety, and depression during/after the pandemic with health status and chronic disease outcomes, while our
exploratory aim is to: 4) explore whether health disparities by age, sex, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic sta...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10342940
- **Project number:** 1R01AG075043-01
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Stacy C Bailey
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $682,908
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-06-01 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10342940

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10342940, Long-Term Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Self-Management of Chronic Conditions: The C3 Study (1R01AG075043-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10342940. Licensed CC0.

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