Occupational risk of COVID-19 related hospital admission in Denmark 2020-2021: a follow-up study

Jens Peter Ellekilde Bonde; Lea Sell; Esben Meulengracht Flachs; David Coggon; Maria Albin; Karen Marieke Oude Hengel; Henrik Kolstad; Ingrid Sivesind Mehlum; Vivi Schlünssen; Svetlana Solovieva; Kjell Torén; Kristina Jakobsson; Christel Nielsen; Kerstin Nilsson; Lars Rylander; Kajsa Ugelvig Petersen; Sandra Søgaard Tøttenborg

doi:doi:10.5271/sjweh.4063

Occupational risk of COVID-19 related hospital admission in Denmark 2020-2021: a follow-up study

Jens Peter Ellekilde Bonde, Lea Sell, Esben Meulengracht Flachs, David Coggon, Maria Albin, Karen Marieke Oude Hengel, Henrik Kolstad, Ingrid Sivesind Mehlum, Vivi Schlünssen, Svetlana Solovieva, Kjell Torén, Kristina Jakobsson, Christel Nielsen, Kerstin Nilsson, Lars Rylander, Kajsa Ugelvig Petersen, Sandra Søgaard Tøttenborg

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Mounting evidence indicates increased risk of COVID-19 among healthcare personnel, but the evidence on risks in other occupations is limited. In this study, we quantify the occupational risk of COVID-19-related hospital admission in Denmark during 2020-2021.

METHODS: The source population included 2.4 million employees age 20-69 years. All information was retrieved from public registers. The risk of COVID-19 related hospital admission was examined in 155 occupations with at least 2000 employees (at-risk, N=1 620 231) referenced to a group of mainly office workers defined by a COVID-19 job exposure matrix (N=369 341). Incidence rate ratios (IRR) were computed by Poisson regression.

RESULTS: During 186 million person-weeks of follow-up, we observed 2944 COVID-19 related hospital admissions in at-risk occupations and 559 in referents. Adjusted risk of such admission was elevated in several occupations within healthcare (including health care assistants, nurses, medical practitioners and laboratory technicians but not physiotherapists or midwives), social care (daycare assistants for children aged 4-7, and nursing aides in institutions and private homes, but not family daycare workers) and transportation (bus drivers, but not lorry drivers). Most IRR in these at-risk occupations were in the range of 1.5-3. Employees in education, retail sales and various service occupations seemed not to be at risk.

CONCLUSION: Employees in several occupations within and outside healthcare are at substantially increased risk of COVID-19. There is a need to revisit safety measures and precautions to mitigate viral transmission in the workplace during the current and forthcoming pandemics.

Original language	English
Article number	4063
Pages (from-to)	84-94
Number of pages	11
Journal	Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health
Volume	49
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/doi:10.5271/sjweh.4063
Publication status	Published - 2022-Oct-13

Swedish Standard Keywords

Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (30302)
Occupational Health and Environmental Health (30303)

Keywords

cohort study
epidemiology
healthcare
industry
ISCO-08
NACE
pandemic
SARS-CoV-2

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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84_94_bonde_COVID2Final published version, 449 KBLicence: CC BY

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Bonde, J. P. E., Sell, L., Flachs, E. M., Coggon, D., Albin, M., Oude Hengel, K. M., Kolstad, H., Mehlum, I. S., Schlünssen, V., Solovieva, S., Torén, K., Jakobsson, K., Nielsen, C., Nilsson, K., Rylander, L., Petersen, K. U., & Tøttenborg, S. S. (2022). Occupational risk of COVID-19 related hospital admission in Denmark 2020-2021: a follow-up study. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health, 49(1), 84-94. Article 4063. https://doi.org/doi:10.5271/sjweh.4063

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title = "Occupational risk of COVID-19 related hospital admission in Denmark 2020-2021: a follow-up study",

abstract = "OBJECTIVE: Mounting evidence indicates increased risk of COVID-19 among healthcare personnel, but the evidence on risks in other occupations is limited. In this study, we quantify the occupational risk of COVID-19-related hospital admission in Denmark during 2020-2021.METHODS: The source population included 2.4 million employees age 20-69 years. All information was retrieved from public registers. The risk of COVID-19 related hospital admission was examined in 155 occupations with at least 2000 employees (at-risk, N=1 620 231) referenced to a group of mainly office workers defined by a COVID-19 job exposure matrix (N=369 341). Incidence rate ratios (IRR) were computed by Poisson regression.RESULTS: During 186 million person-weeks of follow-up, we observed 2944 COVID-19 related hospital admissions in at-risk occupations and 559 in referents. Adjusted risk of such admission was elevated in several occupations within healthcare (including health care assistants, nurses, medical practitioners and laboratory technicians but not physiotherapists or midwives), social care (daycare assistants for children aged 4-7, and nursing aides in institutions and private homes, but not family daycare workers) and transportation (bus drivers, but not lorry drivers). Most IRR in these at-risk occupations were in the range of 1.5-3. Employees in education, retail sales and various service occupations seemed not to be at risk.CONCLUSION: Employees in several occupations within and outside healthcare are at substantially increased risk of COVID-19. There is a need to revisit safety measures and precautions to mitigate viral transmission in the workplace during the current and forthcoming pandemics.",

keywords = "cohort study, epidemiology, healthcare, industry, ISCO-08, NACE, pandemic, SARS-CoV-2",

author = "Bonde, {Jens Peter Ellekilde} and Lea Sell and Flachs, {Esben Meulengracht} and David Coggon and Maria Albin and {Oude Hengel}, {Karen Marieke} and Henrik Kolstad and Mehlum, {Ingrid Sivesind} and Vivi Schl{\"u}nssen and Svetlana Solovieva and Kjell Tor{\'e}n and Kristina Jakobsson and Christel Nielsen and Kerstin Nilsson and Lars Rylander and Petersen, {Kajsa Ugelvig} and T{\o}ttenborg, {Sandra S{\o}gaard}",

year = "2022",

month = oct,

day = "13",

doi = "doi:10.5271/sjweh.4063",

language = "English",

volume = "49",

pages = "84--94",

journal = "Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health",

issn = "0355-3140",

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Bonde, JPE, Sell, L, Flachs, EM, Coggon, D, Albin, M, Oude Hengel, KM, Kolstad, H, Mehlum, IS, Schlünssen, V, Solovieva, S, Torén, K, Jakobsson, K, Nielsen, C, Nilsson, K, Rylander, L, Petersen, KU & Tøttenborg, SS 2022, 'Occupational risk of COVID-19 related hospital admission in Denmark 2020-2021: a follow-up study', Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health, vol. 49, no. 1, 4063, pp. 84-94. https://doi.org/doi:10.5271/sjweh.4063

TY - JOUR

T1 - Occupational risk of COVID-19 related hospital admission in Denmark 2020-2021

T2 - a follow-up study

AU - Bonde, Jens Peter Ellekilde

AU - Sell, Lea

AU - Flachs, Esben Meulengracht

AU - Coggon, David

AU - Albin, Maria

AU - Oude Hengel, Karen Marieke

AU - Kolstad, Henrik

AU - Mehlum, Ingrid Sivesind

AU - Schlünssen, Vivi

AU - Solovieva, Svetlana

AU - Torén, Kjell

AU - Jakobsson, Kristina

AU - Nielsen, Christel

AU - Nilsson, Kerstin

AU - Rylander, Lars

AU - Petersen, Kajsa Ugelvig

AU - Tøttenborg, Sandra Søgaard

PY - 2022/10/13

Y1 - 2022/10/13

N2 - OBJECTIVE: Mounting evidence indicates increased risk of COVID-19 among healthcare personnel, but the evidence on risks in other occupations is limited. In this study, we quantify the occupational risk of COVID-19-related hospital admission in Denmark during 2020-2021.METHODS: The source population included 2.4 million employees age 20-69 years. All information was retrieved from public registers. The risk of COVID-19 related hospital admission was examined in 155 occupations with at least 2000 employees (at-risk, N=1 620 231) referenced to a group of mainly office workers defined by a COVID-19 job exposure matrix (N=369 341). Incidence rate ratios (IRR) were computed by Poisson regression.RESULTS: During 186 million person-weeks of follow-up, we observed 2944 COVID-19 related hospital admissions in at-risk occupations and 559 in referents. Adjusted risk of such admission was elevated in several occupations within healthcare (including health care assistants, nurses, medical practitioners and laboratory technicians but not physiotherapists or midwives), social care (daycare assistants for children aged 4-7, and nursing aides in institutions and private homes, but not family daycare workers) and transportation (bus drivers, but not lorry drivers). Most IRR in these at-risk occupations were in the range of 1.5-3. Employees in education, retail sales and various service occupations seemed not to be at risk.CONCLUSION: Employees in several occupations within and outside healthcare are at substantially increased risk of COVID-19. There is a need to revisit safety measures and precautions to mitigate viral transmission in the workplace during the current and forthcoming pandemics.

AB - OBJECTIVE: Mounting evidence indicates increased risk of COVID-19 among healthcare personnel, but the evidence on risks in other occupations is limited. In this study, we quantify the occupational risk of COVID-19-related hospital admission in Denmark during 2020-2021.METHODS: The source population included 2.4 million employees age 20-69 years. All information was retrieved from public registers. The risk of COVID-19 related hospital admission was examined in 155 occupations with at least 2000 employees (at-risk, N=1 620 231) referenced to a group of mainly office workers defined by a COVID-19 job exposure matrix (N=369 341). Incidence rate ratios (IRR) were computed by Poisson regression.RESULTS: During 186 million person-weeks of follow-up, we observed 2944 COVID-19 related hospital admissions in at-risk occupations and 559 in referents. Adjusted risk of such admission was elevated in several occupations within healthcare (including health care assistants, nurses, medical practitioners and laboratory technicians but not physiotherapists or midwives), social care (daycare assistants for children aged 4-7, and nursing aides in institutions and private homes, but not family daycare workers) and transportation (bus drivers, but not lorry drivers). Most IRR in these at-risk occupations were in the range of 1.5-3. Employees in education, retail sales and various service occupations seemed not to be at risk.CONCLUSION: Employees in several occupations within and outside healthcare are at substantially increased risk of COVID-19. There is a need to revisit safety measures and precautions to mitigate viral transmission in the workplace during the current and forthcoming pandemics.

KW - cohort study

KW - epidemiology

KW - healthcare

KW - industry

KW - ISCO-08

KW - NACE

KW - pandemic

KW - SARS-CoV-2

U2 - doi:10.5271/sjweh.4063

DO - doi:10.5271/sjweh.4063

M3 - Article

C2 - 36228167

SN - 0355-3140

VL - 49

SP - 84

EP - 94

JO - Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health

JF - Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health

IS - 1

M1 - 4063

ER -

Occupational risk of COVID-19 related hospital admission in Denmark 2020-2021: a follow-up study

Abstract

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Keywords

UN SDGs

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