Respiratory Health Division, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA.
Am J Ind Med. 2022 Sep;65(9):721-730. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23410. Epub 2022 Jul 5.
The potential for work to be a risk factor for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was recognized early in the pandemic based on the likelihood of work-related differences in exposures to COVID-19 in different occupations. Due to intense demands of the pandemic, implementation of recommendations to collect information on occupation in relation to COVID-19 has been uneven across the United States. The objective of this study was to investigate COVID-19 test positivity by occupation.
We analyzed data collected from September 8 to November 30, 2020, by the Delphi Group at Carnegie Mellon University US COVID-19 Trends and Impact Survey, offered daily to a random sample of US-based Facebook users aged 18 years or older, who were invited via a banner in their news feed. Our focus was ever testing positive for COVID-19 in respondents working outside the home for pay in the past 4 weeks.
The major occupational groups of "Production", "Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance," "Construction and extraction," "Healthcare support," and "Food preparation and serving" had the five highest test positivity percentages (16.7%-14.4%). Highest detailed occupational categories (28.6%-19.1%) were "Massage therapist," "Food processing worker," "Bailiff, correctional officer, or jailer," "Funeral service worker," "First-line supervisor of production and operating workers," and "Nursing assistant or psychiatric aide." Differences in test positivity by occupation remained after adjustment for age, gender, and pre-existing medical conditions.
Information on differences in test positivity by occupation can aid targeting of messaging for vaccination and testing and mitigation strategies for the current and future respiratory infection epidemics and pandemics. These results, obtained before availability of COVID-19 vaccines, can form a basis for comparison to evaluate impacts of vaccination and subsequent emergence of viral variants.
早在大流行初期，就基于不同职业接触 COVID-19 的可能性存在差异，人们已经认识到工作可能成为 COVID-19 的危险因素。由于大流行的强烈需求，美国各地在实施收集与 COVID-19 相关职业信息的建议方面参差不齐。本研究的目的是调查 COVID-19 检测阳性率与职业的关系。
我们分析了 2020 年 9 月 8 日至 11 月 30 日期间，由卡内基梅隆大学德尔斐集团在美国 COVID-19 趋势和影响调查中收集的数据，该调查每天向美国基于 Facebook 的年龄在 18 岁或以上的随机样本用户提供，他们通过新闻提要中的横幅被邀请参加。我们关注的重点是过去四周内外出工作且检测结果为阳性的人。
“生产”、“建筑和场地清洁和维护”、“建筑和提取”、“医疗支持”和“食品准备和服务”等主要职业群体的检测阳性率最高（16.7%-14.4%）。最高的详细职业类别（28.6%-19.1%）是“按摩治疗师”、“食品加工工人”、“法警、狱警或监狱看守”、“丧葬服务工人”、“生产和运营一线主管”以及“护理助理或精神科助手”。在调整年龄、性别和预先存在的医疗条件后，职业间的检测阳性率差异仍然存在。
职业间检测阳性率的差异信息有助于针对当前和未来呼吸道传染病流行进行疫苗接种和检测信息传递，并制定缓解策略。这些结果是在 COVID-19 疫苗可用之前获得的，可以作为评估疫苗接种影响和随后病毒变异出现的基础。
