COVID-19 deaths in dental occupations and other healthcare occupations among U.S. decedents in 2020

IF 2.7 3区医学 Q2 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH American journal of industrial medicine Pub Date : 2024-08-09 DOI:10.1002/ajim.23645

Brie Hawley Blackley MS, PhD, Ethan D. Fechter-Leggett DVM, MPVM, Talia Alexander MS, Fotinos Panagakos DMD, PhD, Tammy Chipps DDS, Jean M. Cox-Ganser PhD

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Abstract

Background

Early studies during the COVID-19 pandemic suggested dental occupations were among the highest risk for exposure to SARs-CoV-2 because of multiple factors increasing exposure, including close proximity to unmasked patients and performance of aerosol-generating procedures. However, to date, few studies have investigated COVID-19 deaths in United States dental occupations, and compared COVID-19 deaths among healthcare occupations.

Methods

We analyzed 2020 mortality data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics' National Vital Statistics System. Multivariable logistic regression was used to generate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals for COVID-19 as the underlying cause of death in relation to occupation in working-age decedents (≤65 years), after adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, and medical conditions associated with severe COVID-19.

Results

Dental occupations did not have significantly higher risk for COVID-19 death when compared to all other occupations combined. Among healthcare occupations with frequent, direct patient- or client interactions, LPNs and LVNs, and speech and language pathologists had significantly elevated adjusted ORs for COVID-19 death when compared to dentists, dental hygienists, or dental assistants. Similarly, nurse practitioners had significantly higher ORs for COVID-19 mortality than dentists or dental hygienists, and approached significance when compared to dental assistants. Conversely, massage therapists and other health diagnosing and treating practitioners had significantly lower adjusted ORs for COVID-19 death compared with dental occupations.

Conclusion

Our study highlights potential differences in work-related transmission of SARs-CoV-2 and subsequent COVID-19 deaths in healthcare occupations, and furthers a previously limited understanding of COVID-19 deaths in healthcare occupations in 2020, before COVID-19 vaccine availability. Our results indicate that dental occupations were not among the highest, nor lowest risk, healthcare occupations for COVID-19 deaths in 2020, despite their known risks of direct exposure.

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COVID-19 2020 年美国死者中牙科职业和其他医疗保健职业的死亡人数。

背景：COVID-19 大流行期间的早期研究表明，牙科职业是接触 SARs-CoV-2 风险最高的职业之一，因为多种因素增加了接触风险，包括接近未戴口罩的患者和进行产生气溶胶的操作。然而，迄今为止，很少有研究对美国牙科职业中的 COVID-19 死亡病例进行调查，也很少有研究对医疗保健职业中的 COVID-19 死亡病例进行比较：我们分析了国家卫生统计中心的国家生命统计系统收集的 2020 年死亡率数据。在对年龄、性别、种族/民族、教育程度以及与严重 COVID-19 相关的医疗条件进行调整后，我们使用多变量逻辑回归法得出了 COVID-19 作为工龄死者（≤65 岁）死因的几率比（ORs）以及与职业相关的 95% 置信区间：与所有其他职业相比，牙科职业的COVID-19死亡风险并没有明显升高。与牙医、牙科卫生员或牙科助理相比，在与患者或客户频繁直接互动的医疗保健职业中，LPN 和 LVN 以及言语和语言病理学家的 COVID-19 死亡调整 ORs 显著升高。同样，执业护士的 COVID-19 死亡率 ORs 明显高于牙医或牙科保健师，与牙科助理相比接近显著性。相反，与牙科职业相比，按摩师和其他健康诊断与治疗从业人员的 COVID-19 死亡调整 ORs 明显较低：我们的研究强调了医疗保健职业中与工作相关的 SARs-CoV-2 传播及随后的 COVID-19 死亡的潜在差异，并进一步加深了之前对 2020 年（COVID-19 疫苗上市前）医疗保健职业中 COVID-19 死亡的有限了解。我们的研究结果表明，尽管牙科职业存在已知的直接接触风险，但它们并不属于 2020 年 COVID-19 死亡风险最高或最低的医疗保健职业。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

American journal of industrial medicine 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生

CiteScore

5.90

自引率

5.70%

发文量

108

审稿时长

4-8 weeks

期刊介绍： American Journal of Industrial Medicine considers for publication reports of original research, review articles, instructive case reports, and analyses of policy in the fields of occupational and environmental health and safety. The Journal also accepts commentaries, book reviews and letters of comment and criticism. The goals of the journal are to advance and disseminate knowledge, promote research and foster the prevention of disease and injury. Specific topics of interest include: occupational disease; environmental disease; pesticides; cancer; occupational epidemiology; environmental epidemiology; disease surveillance systems; ergonomics; dust diseases; lead poisoning; neurotoxicology; endocrine disruptors.