The morbidity rate of COVID-19 among medical workers: risk factors of getting infected and the development of severe clinical forms

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the study was to assess non-professional risk factors for COVID-19 infection in medical workers and predictors of the development of severe clinical forms of the disease.Methods: The authors developed two online questionnaires to analyze the features of the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 and the impact of various risk factors on the employees of the Ministry of Defense. Questionnaires were filled out by 366 medical workers who had previously had a new coronavirus infection, and 306 employees who were intact for this disease.Results: When assessing the risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection, it was found that factors such as irregular preventive intake of vitamin D and multivitamins increased the risk of infection of employees of the Ministry of Defense by 1.5-2 times. The majority of employees (281 or 76.8%) suffered the disease in the form of acute respiratory infection (ARI) of mild or moderate severity, 23.2% (85 people) had a lesion of the pulmonary parenchyma in the form of interstitial pneumonia. The most severe clinical forms of COVID-19 occurred in employees in the age group older than 40 years, with a body mass index corresponding to overweight (more than 25.0), having chronic diseases of the genitourinary system, diabetes mellitus, and low physical activity.Conclusions: According to the results of the conducted study, the main clinical manifestations of the new coronavirus infection among medical workers, their severity in various forms of the disease, the leading non-professional risk factors for infection and predictors of the development of more severe clinical forms of COVID-19 were determined.