Table 1. Description of the 2 analysed cohorts.
| Variable | Excluding those not working during lockdown | All participants with nonmissing ethnicity and infection status |
|---|---|---|
| Total N = 10,772 | Total N = 12,541 | |
| Demographic and household factors | ||
| Age, med (IQR) | 45 (35–54) | 45 (34–54) |
| Missing | 54 (0.5%) | 68 (0.5%) |
| Sex | ||
| Male | 2,660 (24.7%) | 2,977 (23.7%) |
| Female | 8,089 (75.1%) | 9,535 (76.0%) |
| Missing | 23 (0.2%) | 29 (0.2%) |
| Ethnicity | ||
| White | 7,583 (70.4%) | 8,795 (70.1%) |
| Asian | 2,057 (19.1%) | 2,418 (19.3%) |
| Black | 462 (4.3%) | 535 (4.3%) |
| Mixed | 446 (4.1%) | 529 (4.2%) |
| Other | 224 (2.1%) | 264 (2.1%) |
| Missing | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) |
| Migration status | ||
| Born in UK | 7,901 (73.5%) | 9,171 (73.1%) |
| Born abroad | 2,847 (26.5%) | 3,341 (26.6%) |
| Missing | 24 (0.2%) | 29 (0.2%) |
| Religiosity | ||
| Not religious or not important | 6,085 (56.5%) | 7,043 (56.2%) |
| Fairly important | 2,268 (21.1%) | 2,637 (21.0%) |
| Very important | 1,064 (9.9%) | 1,238 (9.9%) |
| Extremely important | 1,124 (10.4%) | 1,335 (10.7%) |
| Missing | 231 (2.1%) | 288 (2.3%) |
| Household size, med (IQR) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1–3) |
| Missing | 8 (0.1%) | 11 (0.1%) |
| Cohabitation | ||
| Does not live with other key workers | 5,571 (51.7%) | 6,574 (52.4%) |
| Lives with other key workers | 5,145 (47.8%) | 5,892 (47.0%) |
| Missing | 56 (0.5%) | 75 (0.6%) |
| Accommodation | ||
| Does not have shared spaces | 8,807 (81.8%) | 10,248 (81.7%) |
| Has shared spaces | 1,905 (17.7%) | 2,221 (17.7%) |
| Missing | 60 (0.6%) | 72 (0.6%) |
| IMD quintile | ||
| 1 (most deprived) | 956 (8.9%) | 1,112 (8.9%) |
| 2 | 1,597 (14.8%) | 1,840 (14.7%) |
| 3 | 1,944 (18.1%) | 2,301 (18.4%) |
| 4 | 2,312 (21.5%) | 2,671 (21.3%) |
| 5 (least deprived) | 2,700 (25.1%) | 3,164 (25.2%) |
| Missing | 1,263 (11.7%) | 1,453 (11.6%) |
| Social mixing | ||
| None or all remote | 2,685 (25.0%) | 3,165 (25.2%) |
| Face to face (with SD) | 6,584 (61.4%) | 7,647 (61.0%) |
| Physical contact | 1,460 (13.6%) | 1,675 (13.4%) |
| Missing | 43 (0.4%) | 54 (0.4%) |
| Comorbidities | ||
| HCW without diabetes | 9,918 (92.1%) | 11,518 (91.8%) |
| HCW with diabetes | 400 (3.9%) | 479 (3.8%) |
| Missing | 454 (4.2%) |
544 (4.3%) |
| Comorbidities | ||
| Not immunosuppressed | 9,983 (92.7%) | 11,577 (92.3%) |
| Immunosuppressed | 335 (3.1%) | 420 (3.4%) |
| Missing | 454 (4.2%) | 544 (4.3%) |
| Shielding status | ||
| Not advised to shield | 10,324 (95.8%) | 11,936 (95.2%) |
| Advised to shield | 410 (3.8%) | 554 (4.4%) |
| Missing | 38 (0.4%) | 51 (0.4%) |
| Smoking status | ||
| Never/ex-smoker | 10,139 (94.1%) | 11,815 (94.2%) |
| Current smoker | 533 (5.0%) | 609 (4.9%) |
| Missing | 533 (5.0%) | 117 (0.9%) |
| COVID-19 vaccination status (at the time of questionnaire response) | ||
| Unvaccinated | 3,853 (35.8%) | 3,496 (27.9%) |
| Vaccinated | 4,939 (45.9%) | 5,510 (43.9%) |
| Missing | 1,980 (18.4%) | 3,535 (28.2%) |
| Occupational factors | ||
| Occupation | ||
| Doctor or medical support | 2,596 (24.1%) | - |
| Nurse, NA, or Midwife | 2,354 (21.9%) | - |
| Allied health professional* | 4,422 (41.1%) | - |
| Dental | 418 (3.9%) | - |
| Admin, estates, or other | 607 (5.6%) | - |
| Missing | 375 (3.5%) | - |
| Method of commuting | ||
| Alone or with members of household | 9,577 (88.9%) | - |
| With others outside household | 1,061 (9.9%) | - |
| Missing | 134 (1.2%) | - |
| Number of SARS-CoV-2–positive patients attended to per week (with physical contact) | ||
| None | 6,298 (58.5%) | - |
| 1–5 | 2,169 (20.1%) | - |
| 6–20 | 1,506 (14.0%) | - |
| ≥ 21 | 687 (6.4%) | - |
| Missing | 112 (1.0%) | - |
| Access to appropriate PPE | ||
| Not applicable or all/most of the time | 4,560 (42.3%) | - |
| Some of the time or less frequently | 6,182 (57.4%) | - |
| Missing | 30 (0.3%) | - |
| AGP exposure | ||
| Less than weekly exposure | 8,437 (78.3%) | - |
| At least weekly exposure | 2,296 (21.3%) | - |
| Missing | 39 (0.4%) | - |
| Night shift pattern | ||
| Never works nights | 7,543 (70.0%) | - |
| Works nights less than weekly | 1,796 (16.7%) | - |
| Works nights weekly or always | 1,317 (12.2%) | - |
| Missing | 116 (1.1%) | - |
| Work areas | ||
| Ambulance | 396 (3.7%) | - |
| Community clinical setting/primary care | 2,426 (22.5%) | - |
| Nonclinical community setting | 565 (5.3%) | - |
| Emergency department | 963 (8.9%) | - |
| Intensive care unit | 927 (8.6%) | - |
| Hospital inpatient | 2,759 (25.6%) | - |
| Hospital outpatient | 1,831 (17.0%) | - |
| Hospital nonclinical area or laboratory | 1,114 (10.3%) | - |
| Psychiatric hospital | 312 (2.9%) | - |
| Maternity | 344 (3.2%) | - |
| Nursing or care home | 242 (2.3%) | - |
| University | 220 (2.0%) | - |
| Home | 1,715 (15.9%) | - |
| Missing (range)† | 34–40 (0.3–0.4%) | - |
| Work region | ||
| London | 1,423 (13.2%) | - |
| South East England | 1,265 (11.7%) | - |
| South West England | 857 (8.0%) | - |
| East of England | 759 (7.1%) | - |
| East Midlands | 1,097 (10.2%) | - |
| West Midlands | 834 (7.7%) | - |
| North East England | 445 (4.1%) | - |
| North West England | 1,101 (10.2%) | - |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 778 (7.2%) | - |
| Wales | 334 (3.1%) | - |
| Scotland | 626 (5.8%) | - |
| Northern Ireland | 130 (1.2%) | - |
| Missing | 1,123 (10.4%) | - |
*Also includes pharmacists, healthcare scientists, ambulance workers, and those in optical roles.
†When asked about work areas participants could select multiple answers, therefore the work areas variables are “dummy” variables comparing all those that did not select an area (reference) with all those that did. Given the similar amount of missing data for each of these dummy variables, we present a range of number of missing items and proportions.
All occupational factors (other than region of workplace) relate to work circumstances during the weeks following the first UK national lockdown on March 23, 2020.
AGP, aerosol generating procedure; COVID-19, Coronavirus Disease 2019; IMD, index of multiple deprivation; IQR, interquartile range; PPE, personal protective equipment; SARS-CoV-2, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2.