Epidemiological model of COVID-19 in healthcare workers: occupational vs. environmental disease

Abstract

Abstract This study aims to estimate the occupational etiology of COVID-19 in the healthcare sector and obtain a risk matrix for the burden of disease across occupations and specific activities. The study population included 4515 cases and 133077 controls. We have used an epidemiological model that included data collected over one year from employed persons with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, age group 20-64, and residing in Sibiu County. We measured the incidence rate (IR), relative risk (RR), and risk of COVID-19 attributable to the occupational exposure (AR), respectively, statistical analysis based on frequency distribution and the portion of cases to compute the risk levels in social- and healthcare workers. According to this model, approximately 70.5% of COVID-19 risk could be attributable to occupational exposure. The workplace is a strong predictor of infection risk (RR 3.4), particularly in residential long-term care facilities, hospitals, and ambulance services. The highest-risk job functions are nurse, nursing assistant, ambulance worker, and dentist. In conclusion, we believe in having demonstrated that epidemiological modeling may be helpful for risk management and notification of COVID-19 as an occupational disease in frontline staff and essential healthcare personnel.