Healthcare workers hospitalized due to COVID-19 have no higher risk of death than general population. Data from the Spanish SEMI-COVID-19 Registry.

Diez-Manglano, J.; Solis Marquinez, N.; Alvarez Garcia, A.; Alcala Rivera, N.; Maderuelo Riesco, I.; Gerico Aseguinolaza, M.; Beato Perez, J. L.; Mendez Bailon, M.; Laburua-Iturburu Ruiz, A. E.; Garcia Gomez, M.; Martinez Cilleros, C.; Pesqueira Fontan, P. M.; Abella Vazquez, L.; Blazquez Encinar, J. C.; Boixeda, R.; Gil Sanchez, R.; de la Pena Fernandez, A.; Loureiro Amigo, J.; Escobar Sevilla, J.; Guzman Garcia, M.; Martin Escalante, M. D.; Magallanes Gamboa, J. O.; Martinez Gonzalez, A. L.; Lumbreras Bermejo, C.; Anton Santos, J. M.

Aim: To determine whether healthcare workers (HCW) hospitalized in Spain due to COVID-19 have a worse prognosis than non-healthcare workers (NHCW). Methods: Observational cohort study based on the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry, a nationwide registry that collects sociodemographic, clinical, laboratory, and treatment data on patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in Spain. Patients aged 20-65 years were selected. A multivariate logistic regression model was performed to identify factors associated with mortality. Results: As of 22 May 2020, 4393 patients were included, of whom 419 (9.5%) were HCW. Median (interquartile range) age of HCW was 52 (15) years and 62.4% were women. Prevalence of comorbidities and severe radiological findings upon admission were less frequent in HCW. There were no difference in need of respiratory support and admission to intensive care unit, but occurrence of sepsis and in-hospital mortality was lower in HCW (1.7% vs. 3.9%; p=0.024 and 0.7% vs. 4.8%; p<0.001 respectively). Age, male sex and comorbidity, were independently associated with higher in-hospital mortality and healthcare working with lower mortality (OR 0.219, 95%CI 0.069-0.693, p=0.01). 30-days survival was higher in HCW (0.968 vs. 0.851 p<0.001). Conclusions: Hospitalized COVID-19 HCW had fewer comorbidities and a better prognosis than NHCW. Our results suggest that professional exposure to COVID-19 in HCW does not carry more clinical severity nor mortality.