Prevalence of Underlying Medical Conditions Among Selected Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers - Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 31 States, 2017-2018

Certain underlying medical conditions are associated with higher risks for severe morbidity and mortality from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (1). Prevalence of these underlying conditions among workers differs by industry and occupation. Many essential workers, who hold jobs critical to the co...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report 2020-09, Vol.69 (36), p.1244-1249
Main Authors: Silver, Sharon R, Li, Jia, Boal, Winifred L, Shockey, Taylor L, Groenewold, Matthew R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
Chronic Disease - epidemiology
Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology
COVID-19
Female
Full Report
Humans
Industry - statistics & numerical data
Infrastructure (Economics)
Male
Middle Aged
Occupations - statistics & numerical data
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology
Prevalence
Risk Assessment
Type 2 diabetes
United States - epidemiology
Young Adult
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Certain underlying medical conditions are associated with higher risks for severe morbidity and mortality from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (1). Prevalence of these underlying conditions among workers differs by industry and occupation. Many essential workers, who hold jobs critical to the continued function of infrastructure operations (2), have high potential for exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, because their jobs require close contact with patients, the general public, or coworkers. To assess the baseline prevalence of underlying conditions among workers in six essential occupations and seven essential industries, CDC analyzed data from the 2017 and 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) surveys, the most recent data available.* This report presents unadjusted prevalences and adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) for selected underlying conditions. Among workers in the home health aide occupation and the nursing home/rehabilitation industry, aPRs were significantly elevated for the largest number of conditions. Extra efforts to minimize exposure risk and prevent and treat underlying conditions are warranted to protect workers whose jobs increase their risk for exposure to SARS-CoV-2.
ISSN:0149-2195
1545-861X
DOI:10.15585/mmwr.mm6936a3