Occupation and SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence studies : a systematic review
- DOI
- Language of the publication
- English
- Date
- 2023-02-28
- Type
- Article
- Author(s)
- Boucher, Emily
- D'Mello, Sean
- Duarte, Nathan
- Donnici, Claire
- Duarte, Natalie
- Bennett, Graham
- SeroTracker Consortium
- Adisesh, Anil
- Arora, Rahul
- Kodama, David
- Bobrovitz, Niklas
- Bobrovitz, Niklas
- Publisher
- BMJ Publishing Group
Abstract
Objective Methods Results Conclusions
To describe and synthesise studies of SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence by occupation prior to the widespread vaccine roll-out.
We identified studies of occupational seroprevalence from a living systematic review (PROSPERO CRD42020183634). Electronic databases, grey literature and news media were searched for studies published during January–December 2020. Seroprevalence estimates and a free-text description of the occupation were extracted and classified according to the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2010 system using a machine-learning algorithm. Due to heterogeneity, results were synthesised narratively.
We identified 196 studies including 591 940 participants from 38 countries. Most studies (n=162; 83%) were conducted locally versus regionally or nationally. Sample sizes were generally small (median=220 participants per occupation) and 135 studies (69%) were at a high risk of bias. One or more estimates were available for 21/23 major SOC occupation groups, but over half of the estimates identified (n=359/600) were for healthcare-related occupations. ‘Personal Care and Service Occupations’ (median 22% (IQR 9–28%); n=14) had the highest median seroprevalence.
Many seroprevalence studies covering a broad range of occupations were published in the first year of the pandemic. Results suggest considerable differences in seroprevalence between occupations, although few large, high-quality studies were done. Well-designed studies are required to improve our understanding of the occupational risk of SARS-CoV-2 and should be considered as an element of pandemic preparedness for future respiratory pathogens.
Subject
- Health,
- Coronavirus diseases,
- Epidemiology,
- Occupations
Rights
Pagination
1-6
Peer review
Yes
Open access level
Gold
Identifiers
- PubMed ID
- 36854599
- ISSN
- 2044-6055
Article
- Journal title
- BMJ Open
- Journal volume
- 13
- Journal issue
- 2
- Article number
- e063771
Sponsors
SeroTracker receives funding for SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence study evidence synthesis from the Public Health Agency of Canada through Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (Grant Number 2021-HQ-000056), the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, the Robert Koch Institute and the Canadian Medical Association Joule Innovation Fund.