Work-related and personal predictors of COVID-19 transmission: evidence from the UK and USA

Abstract

Objective: To develop evidence of work-related and personal predictors of COVID-19 transmission.

Setting and respondents: Data are drawn from a population survey of individuals in the USA and UK conducted in June 2020.

Background methods: Regression models are estimated for 1467 individuals in which reported evidence of infection depends on work-related factors as well as a variety of personal controls.

Results: The following themes emerge from the analysis. First, a range of work-related factors are significant sources of variation in COVID-19 infection as indicated by self-reports of medical diagnosis or symptoms. This includes evidence about workplace types, consultation about safety and union membership. The partial effect of transport-related employment in regression models makes the chance of infection over three times more likely while in univariate analyses, transport-related work increases the risk of infection by over 40 times in the USA. Second, there is evidence that some home-related factors are significant predictors of infection, most notably the sharing of accommodation or a kitchen. Third, there is some evidence that behavioural factors and personal traits (including risk preference, extraversion and height) are also important.

Conclusions: The paper concludes that predictors of transmission relate to work, transport, home and personal factors. Transport-related work settings are by far the greatest source of risk and so should be a focus of prevention policies. In addition, surveys of the sort developed in this paper are an important source of information on transmission pathways within the community.

Keywords: environmental epidemiology; health inequalities; multilevel modelling; policy; psychosocial factors.