Table 3

Characteristics of retail essential employees in a single grocery store in Massachusetts, USA presented for SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, RT-PCR assay testing by Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) screening score for depression

At least mild depression (PHQ-9 score >4) (N=8)No or minimal depression (PHQ-9 score ≤4) (N=91)P value
Age, mean (SD)40.3 (10.5)49.7 (14.2)0.070
Female, n (%)6 (75.0%)41 (45.1%)0.145*
Smoker, n (%)3 (37.5%)21 (23.1%)0.397*
Daily alcohol consumption, n (%)2 (25.0%)6 (6.6%)0.125*
Marijuana use, n (%)2 (25.0%)11 (12.1%)0.282*
Self-reported exposure to SARS-CoV-2-positive individual(s) in the past 14 days, n (%)5 (62.5%)19 (20.9%)0.019*
Job positions with direct customer exposure at store†, n (%)6 (75.0%)58 (63.7%)0.712*
Full-time employment status, n (%)7 (87.5%)61 (67.0%)0.429*
Ability to practice social distancing consistently at work, count (%)2 (25.0%)66 (72.5%)0.010*
Using gloves consistently at work, count (%)6 (75.0%)71 (78.0%)0.667*
Wearing face mask consistently at work, count (%)7 (87.5%)85 (93.4%)0.409*
Wearing face mask consistently outside of work, count (%)4 (50.0%)74 (81.3%)0.133*
Commuting to work by foot, bike or private car4 (50.0%)81 (89.0%)0.013*
PPE knowledge score, median (IQR)14.5 (14–15)15 (14–15)0.885‡
COVID-19 perception score, median (IQR)13 (12–14)12 (11–15)0.402‡
  • *Statistics derived from Fisher’s exact test.

  • †Direct customer exposure positions include cashier, front end associate, sales associate, fresh food associate, cart attendant, janitorial crew, supervisor and manager of all levels. These are in contrast to positions mainly dealing with consumer goods or the environment, such as stocker, backroom, receiving and maintenance.

  • ‡Statistics derived from Wilcoxon rank sum test with continuity correction.

  • PPE, personal protective equipment; RT-PCR, reverse transcriptase PCR.