Post-Acute COVID-19 Sequelae in a Working Population at One Year Follow-Up: A Wide Range of Impacts from an Italian Sample

Danilo Buonsenso, Maria Rosaria Gualano (), Maria Francesca Rossi, Angelica Valz Gris, Leuconoe Grazia Sisti, Ivan Borrelli, Paolo Emilio Santoro, Antonio Tumminello, Carolina Gentili, Walter Malorni, Piero Valentini, Walter Ricciardi and Umberto Moscato
Additional contact information
Danilo Buonsenso: Department of Woman and Child Health and Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Roma, Italy
Maria Rosaria Gualano: Center for Global Health Research and Studies, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy
Maria Francesca Rossi: Department of Health Science and Public Health, Section of Occupational Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy
Angelica Valz Gris: Department of Health Science and Public Health, Section of Hygiene, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy
Leuconoe Grazia Sisti: Institute of Public Health, Section of Hygiene, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy
Ivan Borrelli: Department of Health Science and Public Health, Section of Occupational Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy
Paolo Emilio Santoro: Department of Woman and Child Health and Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Roma, Italy
Antonio Tumminello: Department of Health Science and Public Health, Section of Occupational Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy
Carolina Gentili: Medical School, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy
Walter Malorni: Center for Global Health Research and Studies, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy
Piero Valentini: Department of Woman and Child Health and Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Roma, Italy
Walter Ricciardi: Center for Global Health Research and Studies, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy
Umberto Moscato: Department of Woman and Child Health and Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, 00168 Roma, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 17, 1-12

Abstract: Long COVID-19 is a term used to describe the symptomatic sequelae that develop after suffering from COVID-19. Very few studies have investigated the impact of COVID-19 sequelae on employment status. The aim of this research was to characterise sequelae of COVID-19 in a population of workers who tested positive for COVID-19, with a follow-up within one year of the acute illness, and to analyse the possible association between this and changes in the workers’ occupational status. In this retrospective cohort study, a questionnaire was administered to 155 workers; descriptive, univariate (chi-square tests), and multivariate (logistic regression model) analyses were carried out. The mean age was 46.48 years (SD ± 7.302); 76 participants were males (49.7%), and 33 participants reported being current smokers (21.3%). Overall, 19.0% of patients reported not feeling fully recovered at follow-up, and 13.7% reported a change in their job status after COVID-19. A change in occupational status was associated with being a smoker (OR 4.106, CI [1.406–11.990], p = 0.010); hospital stay was associated with age > 46 years in a statistically significant way ( p = 0.025) and with not feeling fully recovered at follow-up ( p = 0.003). A persistent worsening in anxiety was more common in women ( p = 0.028). This study identifies smoking as a risk factor for workers not able to resume their job; furthermore, occupational physicians should monitor mental health more closely after COVID-19, particularly in female workers.

Keywords: COVID-19; long COVID-19; occupational medicine; employment status; smoking; workers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/11093/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/17/11093/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:17:p:11093-:d:906678

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().