Introduction In the UK, workers who were essential to maintain communications, travel, food and healthcare were deemed ‘key workers’. There is scarce evidence about the effect that the pandemic had on this group of workers as compared with people who were home working, furloughed or retired.

Objectives To compare measures of health and lifestyle amongst older key workers as opposed to other older adults working or not working during the pandemic.

Methods In February 2021 participants in the Health and Employment After Fifty (HEAF) study (aged 55–73) were sent an online survey, enquiring about changes to their mental/physical health and lifestyle during the first UK lockdown (starting late March 2020). Logistic regression was used to explore the association between being a keyworker (healthcare/not healthcare) and adverse outcomes, with adjustment for age and sex. Participants in work but not identifying themselves as key workers were used as the reference category.

Results A total of 2,040 (46%) returned a usable questionnaire and completed the question about key worker status. 281 were in work but not as key workers; 50 were key workers in healthcare; 298 were key workers not in healthcare; 1,411 were retired. Key workers were predominantly women. Key workers not in healthcare were more likely to see a worsening of mental health (OR=1.6; 95%CI 1.0 to 2.4) physical health (OR=1.5; 95%CI 1.0 to 2.3), to report that their diet was less healthy (OR=1.8; 95% CI 1.2 to 2.8) and to report eating more than pre-lockdown (OR=1.6; 95%CI 1.1 to 2.4) compared with participants in work but not as key workers. Associations were similar among key workers in healthcare, however they did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusion Being a key worker during the pandemic (especially not in healthcare) was associated with a deterioration of health and lifestyle choices.