PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Vahe Nafilyan
AU  - Piotr Pawelek
AU  - Daniel Ayoubkhani
AU  - Sarah Rhodes
AU  - Lucy Pembrey
AU  - Melissa Matz
AU  - Michel Coleman
AU  - Claudia Allemani
AU  - Ben Windsor-Shellard
AU  - Martie van Tongeren
AU  - Neil Pearce
TI  - Occupation and COVID-19 mortality in England: a national linked data study of 14.3 million adults
AID  - 10.1136/oemed-2021-107818
DP  - 2022 Jul 01
TA  - Occupational and Environmental Medicine
PG  - 433--441
VI  - 79
IP  - 7
4099  - http://oem.bmj.com/content/79/7/433.short
4100  - http://oem.bmj.com/content/79/7/433.full
SO  - Occup Environ Med2022 Jul 01; 79
AB  - Objectives To estimate occupational differences in COVID-19 mortality and test whether these are confounded by factors such as regional differences, ethnicity and education or due to non-workplace factors, such as deprivation or prepandemic health.Methods Using a cohort study of over 14 million people aged 40–64 years living in England, we analysed occupational differences in death involving COVID-19, assessed between 24 January 2020 and 28 December 2020.We estimated age-standardised mortality rates (ASMRs) per 100 000 person-years at risk stratified by sex and occupation. We estimated the effect of occupation on COVID-19 mortality using Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for confounding factors. We further adjusted for non-workplace factors and interpreted the residual effects of occupation as being due to workplace exposures to SARS-CoV-2.Results In men, the ASMRs were highest among those working as taxi and cab drivers or chauffeurs at 119.7 deaths per 100 000 (95% CI 98.0 to 141.4), followed by other elementary occupations at 106.5 (84.5 to 132.4) and care workers and home carers at 99.2 (74.5 to 129.4). Adjusting for confounding factors strongly attenuated the HRs for many occupations, but many remained at elevated risk. Adjusting for living conditions reduced further the HRs, and many occupations were no longer at excess risk. For most occupations, confounding factors and mediators other than workplace exposure to SARS-CoV-2 explained 70%–80% of the excess age-adjusted occupational differences.Conclusions Working conditions play a role in COVID-19 mortality, particularly in occupations involving contact with patients or the public. However, there is also a substantial contribution from non-workplace factors.Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. The data used in this study are available on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service for Accredited researchers as the Public Health Research Database. Researchers can apply for accreditation through the Research Accreditation Service.