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. 2021 Mar 30;72(1):36-41.
doi: 10.2478/aiht-2021-72-3530. Print 2021 Mar 1.

Characteristics of work-related COVID-19 in Croatian healthcare workers: a preliminary report

Roko Žaja  1 , Ivana Kerner  2 , Jelena Macan  3 , Milan Milošević  1
Affiliations

Characteristics of work-related COVID-19 in Croatian healthcare workers: a preliminary report

Roko Žaja et al. Arh Hig Rada Toksikol. .

Abstract
in English, Croatian

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are considered to run a higher occupational risk of becoming infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and develop coronavirus disease (COVID-19) than the rest of the population. The aim of this study was to describe and analyse the characteristics of work-related COVID-19 in Croatian HCWs. Study participants were HCWs who contacted their occupational physician between 1 May 2020 and 12 November 2020 with a request for the registration of COVID-19 as an occupational disease. All participants filled out our online Occupational COVID-19 in Healthcare Workers Questionnaire. The study included 59 HCWs (median age 45.0, interquartile range 36.0-56.0 years). Most (78 %) were nurses or laboratory technicians, and almost all (94.9 %) worked in hospitals. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed three clusters of COVID-19-related symptoms: 1) elevated body temperature with general weakness and fatigue, 2) diarrhoea, and 3) headache, muscle and joint pain, anosmia, ageusia, and respiratory symptoms (nasal symptoms, burning throat, cough, dyspnoea, tachypnoea). Almost half (44.6 %) reported comorbidities. Only those with chronic pulmonary conditions were more often hospitalised than those without respiratory disorders (57.1 % vs. 2.5 %, respectively; P=0.001). Our findings suggest that work-related COVID-19 among Croatian HCWs is most common in hospital nurses/laboratory technicians and takes a mild form, with symptoms clustering around three clinical phenotypes: general symptoms of acute infection, specific symptoms including neurological (anosmia, ageusia) and respiratory symptoms, and diarrhoea as a separate symptom. They also support evidence from other studies that persons with chronic pulmonary conditions are at higher risk for developing severe forms of COVID-19.

Smatra se da zdravstveni radnici imaju povećan rizik od infekcije koronavirusom teškog akutnog respiratornog sindroma 2 i od koronavirusne bolesti (COVID-19) na radnom mjestu u odnosu na ostatak populacije. Cilj je ove studije opisati i analizirati karakteristike COVIDA-19 vezanog uz rad hrvatskih zdravstvenih radnika. Ispitanici su zdravstveni radnici koji su kontaktirali nadležnog specijalista medicine rada od 1. svibnja do 12. studenoga 2020. sa zahtjevom da im se COVID-19 registrira kao profesionalna bolest. Svi ispitanici ispunili su virtualni obrazac upitnika “Profesionalna bolest COVID-19 u zdravstvenih radnika”, koji su osmislili autori studije. U studiju je uključeno 59 zdravstvenih radnika (medijan dobi 45,0; interkvartilni raspon 36,0‒56,0 godina). Većinu ispitanika činile su medicinske sestre/tehničari (78 %), a gotovo svi su radili u bolnicama (94,9 %). Hijerarhijskom klasterskom analizom razdvojena su tri klastera simptoma koronavirusne bolesti: 1) vrućica, opća slabost i umor, 2) proljev i 3) glavobolja, bolovi u mišićima i zglobovima, anosmija, ageuzija, dišni simptomi (nazalni simptomi, žarenje grla, kašalj, dispneja, tahipneja). Gotovo polovina ispitanika (44,6 %) prijavila je komorbiditete. Samo oni s kroničnim plućnim poremećajima bili su češće hospitalizirani od ispitanika bez plućnih poremećaja (57,1 % vs. 2,5 %; P=0,001). Zaključno, COVID-19 vezan uz rad u hrvatskih zdravstvenih radnika najčešće se prezentira u bolničkih medicinskih sestara/tehničara kao blagi oblik bolesti. Rezultati potvrđuju tvrdnje da osobe s kroničnim plućnim poremećajima imaju veći rizik od težih oblika COVIDA-19. Klasterska analiza simptoma upućuje na tri klinička fenotipa koronavirusne bolesti: opće simptome akutne infekcije, specifične simptome koji uključuju anosmiju, ageuziju i dišne simptome te gastrointestinalni oblik bolesti.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; comorbidity; hospitalisation; questionnaire; symptom clustering.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Clustering of symptoms reported by HCWs (N=59): blue – COVID-19 neurological, musculoskeletal, and respiratory symptoms; yellow – gastrointestinal symptom; red – acute infection symptoms. *shortness of breath, tachypnoea, dyspnoea in rest
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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