Abstract
Objective
To analyze associations between work context and clinical manifestations of COVID-19 in health professionals.
Methods
This is a cross-sectional study, with health professionals from the northeast of Brazil, from the medical, nursing and physiotherapy categories from different areas of expertise. A Google Forms questionnaire was sent through social networks, gathering demographic, academic, work context, clinical manifestations and data related to testing for COVID-19 (the test performed was not specified) and whether the result confirmed infection active or presence of antibodies (categorized as positive). Pearson’s chi-square test and multivariate binary logistic regression analysis were performed, with Wald’s chi-square test, considering p-value <0.05, Odds Ratio and 95% confidence interval.
Results
A total of 1,354 professionals agreed to participate in the study. Of these, 324 reported a positive test for COVID-19, with a prevalence of 23.9% (324/1,354). There was a statistical association between symptom onset and positive result (p=0.000). The work context characteristics related to the number of jobs, practice setting, contact with critically ill patients and employment in the capital were the independent variables associated with a positive result for COVID-19 (p<0.05). It was identified that 54.8% of the dependent variable can be related to the work sector, number of jobs, fever, loss of smell and taste.
Conclusion
Health professionals from urban centers, hospitals, critical care units and those with more than one job are more affected by COVID-19, with the positive test result being closely related to the symptoms of fever, loss of smell and taste that are characteristic of the illness.
Coronavirus infections; COVID-19; Signs and symptoms; Health personnel; Patient care team