TABLE 2.
Effect estimates and evidence for the healthcare sector, grouped by outcome
| Outcome | Study (country) | Subgroups | Wave one January–November 2020 |
Wave two December 2020–May 2021 |
Wave three June–November 2021 |
Wave four December 2021 onwards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SARS-CoV-2 infection | Airoldi et al. [15] (Italy) | Health services | # | NA | NA | NA |
| Ballering et al. [24] (Netherlands) | Healthcare | 1.7 (1.3– 2.2) | NA | NA | NA | |
| Beale et al. [16] (UK) | Healthcare | 2.1 (1.8–2.5) | 0.9 (0.7–1.1) | 1.2 (1.1–1.4) | ||
| Biarnés-Martínez et al. [25] (Spain) | Healthcare | # | NA | |||
| Bonde et al. [17] (Denmark) | Healthcare | 8.2 (6.7–10.1) | 1.7 (1.6–1.8) | 0.65 (0.6–0.7) | ||
| Green and Semple [18] (UK) | Healthcare | 1.3 (1.1–1.5) | NA | NA | ||
| Magnusson et al. [19] (Norway) | Nurses | 3.3 (3.1–3.4) | 1.2 (1.0–1.3) | NA | NA | |
| Physicians | 3.0 (2.8–3.4) | 1.2 (1.1–1.4) | NA | NA | ||
| Dentists | 3.0 (2.0–4.5) | 0.8 (0.5–1.2) | NA | NA | ||
| Physiotherapists | 2.0 (1.2–2.9) | 0.7 (0.5–1.0) | NA | NA | ||
| Nwaru et al. [20] (Sweden) | Healthcare workers | 1.9 (1.9–2.0) | NA | NA | ||
| Reuter et al. [21] (Germany) | Medicine and dentistry | 4.6 (2.0–9.0) | NA | NA | NA | |
| Nursing, emergency medicine and obstetrics | 2.8 (2.0–5.2) | NA | NA | NA | ||
| Rhodes et al. [22] (UK) | Medical support staff | 1.6 (1.3–1.9) | 0.9 (0.7–1.0) | 1.1 (1.0–1.2) | ||
| Healthcare professionals | 1.2 (1.0–1.3) | 0.5 (0.4–0.6) | 1.1 (1.0–1.1) | |||
| Other health professionals and healthcare associates | 1.3 (1.1–1.4) | 0.8 (0.7–0.9) | 1.2 (1.0–1.4) | |||
| Verbeeck et al. [23] (Belgium) | Human health | # | NA | NA | NA | |
| Hospitalisation | Bonde et al. [26] (Denmark)# | Nursing professionals | 1.9 (1.4–2.5) | |||
| Medical practitioners | 2.0 (1.3–3.3) | |||||
| Dental assistants and therapists | 1.0 (0.5–1.8) | |||||
| Healthcare assistants | 3.5 (2.3–5.4) | |||||
| Physiotherapists | 1.3 (0.6–2.7) | |||||
| Medical laboratory technicians | 1.9 (1.1–3.2) | |||||
| Psychological therapists | 2.5 (1.4–4.7) | |||||
| Cleaners and helpers | 1.5 (0.9–2.7) | |||||
| Recreational therapists | 2.4 (1.1–5.0) | |||||
| Dentists | 1.2 (0.5–2.8) | |||||
| Hospital attendants (porters) | 1.9 (1.1–3.6) | |||||
| X-ray technicians | 2.2 (1.0–4.7) | |||||
| Midwifery professionals | 1.1 (0.3–4.2) | |||||
| Mutambudzi et al. [27] (England) | Healthcare workers | 7.7 (5.6–10.6) | NA | NA | NA | |
| Healthcare professionals | 9.0 (5.2–15.5) | NA | NA | NA | ||
| Medical support staff | 6.4 (3.6–11.5) | NA | NA | NA | ||
| Health associate professionals | 7.7 (5.3–11.0) | NA | NA | NA | ||
| COVID-19 mortality | Billingsley et al. [28] (Sweden) | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
| Cherrie et al. [29] (UK) | Healthcare professionals and associates | 1.9 (1.6–2.2) | 1.1 (0.9–1.3) | 0.8 (0.6–1.1) | 1.0 (0.7–1.4) | |
| Medical support staff | 2.1 (1.7–2.6) | 1.3 (1.0–1.7) | 1.2 (0.9–1.7) | 1.2 (0.6–1.8) | ||
| Matz et al. [30] (UK) | Healthcare | # | # | # | NA | |
| Nafilyan et al. [31] (UK) | Support staff (male) | 1.7 (1.2–2.5) | NA | NA | NA | |
| Support staff (female) | 0.8 (0.6–1.1) | NA | NA | NA | ||
| Health associate professionals (male) | 1.9 (1.4–2.5) | NA | NA | NA | ||
| Health associate professionals (female) | 1.2 (1.0–1.5) | NA | NA | NA | ||
| Health professionals (male) | 1.5 (1.0–2.2) | NA | NA | NA | ||
| Health professionals (female) | 0.5 (0.1–1.4) | NA | NA | NA | ||
Red: evidence of highly elevated risks; pale red: evidence of moderately elevated risks; green: evidence of reduced risks; blue: unclear whether risks are reduced or increased; yellow: varies by subgroup. COVID-19: coronavirus disease 2019; NA: not applicable; SARS-CoV-2: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. #: relative effect estimates not reported.