One in 20 adults (5 per cent) in Scotland had long Covid last year, new research shows.

The Scottish Health Survey found 1% of adults reported the condition limited their activities a lot.

In 2021, 5% of those questioned reported having symptoms of long Covid at least four weeks after they first developed coronavirus.

The most common symptom was weakness/tiredness, with 63% of sufferers reporting this.

The next most common symptoms were shortness of breath (43%), trouble sleeping (37%), loss of smell (34%), headache (31%), difficulty concentrating (29%) and worry/anxiety (27%).

The proportion of adults who reported having long Covid differed with age and was highest amongst those aged 35-64 (6-7%).

It was lowest amongst the youngest and oldest age groups, affecting 1% of children, and 2% of those aged 16-24 and those aged 75 plus.

Women were slightly more likely than men to experience symptoms of long Covid (5% of women compared with 4% of men).

Last year, adults with long Covid had “significantly lower” mental wellbeing than those who did not, the survey found.

The annual Scottish Health Survey is published by the Scottish Centre for Social Research and the Scottish Government, providing a detailed picture of the health of the Scottish population.

In 2021, 4,557 adults and 1,600 children took part in the survey.