Suspected infection, absenteeism at work and testing for covid-19 among nursing professionals

ABSTRACT

Objective: to identify the occurrence of the factors associated with (1) suspected infection by the virus that causes COVID-19;(2) absenteeism at work due to suspected infection or diagnosis of infection by the virus that causes COVID-19;and (3) performance of tests for the screening of infection by the virus that causes COVID-19 among Nursing professionals. Method: a cross-sectional study conducted with 890 nurses in June and July 2020. The associations between the outcomes and the other variables were explored using Poisson regression models with robust variance estimators. Results: occurrence of the outcomes was (1) 35.5%, (2) 16.2% and (3) 38.2%, respectively. For suspected infection, associations were observed with assessment of the working conditions as deficient (RR 1.55;95% CI 1.21-1.99) and with lack of Personal Protective Equipment (RR 1.27;95% CI 1.06-1.51). Absenteeism at work was associated with the adoption of moderate social distancing (RR 1.49;95% CI 1.00-2.21). To perform the screening tests, the associations with links to outpatient (RR 2.47;95% CI 1.52-4.01) and hospital (RR 2.49;95% CI 1.60-3.89) services stood out, in addition to direct contact with patients with confirmed COVID-19 diagnoses (RR 1.65;95% CI 1.33-2.05). Conclusion: despite the high occurrence of suspected infection and a considerable incidence of absenteeism at work among professionals from the various services under study, disparity in access to the screening tests was evidenced, especially with regard to the professionals who work in Primary Care. © 2021, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. All rights reserved.