Demographic, behavioural and occupational risk factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in UK healthcare workers: a retrospective observational study.
Creators: name: Cooper, Daniel James
name: Lear, Sara
name: Sithole, Nyarie
name: Shaw, Ashley
name: Stark, Hannah
name: Ferris, Mark
name: CITIID-NIHR BioResource COVID-19 Collaboration Consortium
name: Bradley, John
name: Maxwell, Patrick
name: Goodfellow, Ian
name: Weekes, Michael P
name: Seaman, Shaun
name: Baker, Stephen
Publisher: name: Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository
Year: 2022
Subjects: Infectious diseases
1506
2474
1706
COVID-19
Public health
Infection control
Epidemiology

description: Peer reviewed: True
description: Acknowledgements: We thank National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) BioResource volunteers for their participation, and gratefully acknowledge NIHR BioResource centres, NHS trusts and staff for their contribution. We thank the NIHR, NHS Blood and Transplant, and Health Data Research UK as part of the Digital Innovation Hub Programme.
description: OBJECTIVE: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection than the general population. This group is pivotal to healthcare system resilience during the COVID-19, and future, pandemics. We investigated demographic, social, behavioural and occupational risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection among HCWs. DESIGN/SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: HCWs enrolled in a large-scale sero-epidemiological study at a UK university teaching hospital were sent questionnaires spanning a 5-month period from March to July 2020. In a retrospective observational cohort study, univariate logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. A Least Absolute Shrinkage Selection Operator regression model was used to identify variables to include in a multivariate logistic regression model. RESULTS: Among 2258 HCWs, highest ORs associated with SARS-CoV-2 antibody seropositivity on multivariate analysis were having a household member previously testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (OR 6.94 (95% CI 4.15 to 11.6); p&lt;0.0001) and being of black ethnicity (6.21 (95% CI 2.69 to 14.3); p&lt;0.0001). Occupational factors associated with a higher risk of seropositivity included working as a physiotherapist (OR 2.78 (95% CI 1.21 to 6.36); p=0.015) and working predominantly in acute medicine (OR 2.72 (95% CI 1.57 to 4.69); p&lt;0.0001) or medical subspecialties (not including infectious diseases) (OR 2.33 (95% CI 1.4 to 3.88); p=0.001). Reporting that adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) was 'rarely' available had an OR of 2.83 (95% CI 1.29 to 6.25; p=0.01). Reporting attending a handover where social distancing was not possible had an OR of 1.39 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.9; p=0.038). CONCLUSIONS: The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants and potential vaccine escape continue to threaten stability of healthcare systems worldwide, and sustained vigilance against HCW infection remains a priority. Enhanced risk assessments should be considered for HCWs of black ethnicity, physiotherapists and those working in acute medicine or medical subspecialties. Workplace risk reduction measures include ongoing access to high-quality PPE and effective social distancing measures.