Education and pandemic SARS-CoV-2 infections in the German working population – the mediating role of working from home
OBJECTIVES: SARS-CoV-2 infections were unequally distributed during the pandemic, with those in disadvantaged socioeconomic positions being at higher risk. Little is known about the underlying mechanism of this association. This study assessed to what extent educational differences in SARS-CoV-2 inf...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH)
2024-04-01
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| Series: | Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health |
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| Online Access: |
https://www.sjweh.fi/article/4144
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| _version_ | 1797242650356613120 |
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| author | Benjamin Wachtler Florian Beese Ibrahim Demirer Sebastian Haller Timo-Kolja Pförtner Morten Wahrendorf Markus M Grabka Jens Hoebel |
| author_facet | Benjamin Wachtler Florian Beese Ibrahim Demirer Sebastian Haller Timo-Kolja Pförtner Morten Wahrendorf Markus M Grabka Jens Hoebel |
| author_sort | Benjamin Wachtler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | OBJECTIVES: SARS-CoV-2 infections were unequally distributed during the pandemic, with those in disadvantaged socioeconomic positions being at higher risk. Little is known about the underlying mechanism of this association. This study assessed to what extent educational differences in SARS-CoV-2 infections were mediated by working from home. METHODS: We used data of the German working population derived from the seroepidemiological study “Corona Monitoring Nationwide – Wave 2 (RKI-SOEP-2)” (N=6826). Infections were assessed by seropositivity against SARS-CoV-2 antigens and self-reports of previous PCR-confirmed infections from the beginning of the pandemic until study participation (November 2021 – February 2022). The frequency of working from home was assessed between May 2021 and January 2022.We used the Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) method to decompose the effect of education on SARS-CoV-2 infections. RESULTS: Individuals with lower educational attainment had a higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection (adjusted prevalence ratio of low versus very high = 1.76, 95% confidence interval 1.08–2.88; P=0.023). Depending on the level of education, between 27% (high education) and 58% (low education) of the differences in infection were mediated by the frequency of working from home. CONCLUSIONS: Working from home could prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections and contribute to the explanation of socioeconomic inequalities in infection risks. Wherever possible, additional capacities to work remotely, particularly for occupations that require lower educational attainment, should be considered as an important measure of pandemic preparedness. Limitations of this study are the observational cross-sectional design and that the temporal order between infection and working from home remained unclear. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:42:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e83c466ee70b41bd903fb01d6cf2f928 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0355-3140 1795-990X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:42:35Z |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-e83c466ee70b41bd903fb01d6cf2f9282024-03-27T11:01:37ZengNordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH)Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health0355-31401795-990X2024-04-0150316817710.5271/sjweh.41444144Education and pandemic SARS-CoV-2 infections in the German working population – the mediating role of working from homeBenjamin Wachtler0Florian BeeseIbrahim DemirerSebastian HallerTimo-Kolja PförtnerMorten WahrendorfMarkus M GrabkaJens HoebelORCID ID 0000-0002-3959-5676, Department of Epidemiology and Health Monitoring, Robert Koch Institute, Nordufer 20, 13353 Berlin, Germany.OBJECTIVES: SARS-CoV-2 infections were unequally distributed during the pandemic, with those in disadvantaged socioeconomic positions being at higher risk. Little is known about the underlying mechanism of this association. This study assessed to what extent educational differences in SARS-CoV-2 infections were mediated by working from home. METHODS: We used data of the German working population derived from the seroepidemiological study “Corona Monitoring Nationwide – Wave 2 (RKI-SOEP-2)” (N=6826). Infections were assessed by seropositivity against SARS-CoV-2 antigens and self-reports of previous PCR-confirmed infections from the beginning of the pandemic until study participation (November 2021 – February 2022). The frequency of working from home was assessed between May 2021 and January 2022.We used the Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) method to decompose the effect of education on SARS-CoV-2 infections. RESULTS: Individuals with lower educational attainment had a higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection (adjusted prevalence ratio of low versus very high = 1.76, 95% confidence interval 1.08–2.88; P=0.023). Depending on the level of education, between 27% (high education) and 58% (low education) of the differences in infection were mediated by the frequency of working from home. CONCLUSIONS: Working from home could prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections and contribute to the explanation of socioeconomic inequalities in infection risks. Wherever possible, additional capacities to work remotely, particularly for occupations that require lower educational attainment, should be considered as an important measure of pandemic preparedness. Limitations of this study are the observational cross-sectional design and that the temporal order between infection and working from home remained unclear. https://www.sjweh.fi/article/4144 educationmediation analysisgermanyinfection riskcovid-19pandemicwork from homesars-cov-2socioeconomic inequalitiesmediating role |
| spellingShingle | Benjamin Wachtler Florian Beese Ibrahim Demirer Sebastian Haller Timo-Kolja Pförtner Morten Wahrendorf Markus M Grabka Jens Hoebel Education and pandemic SARS-CoV-2 infections in the German working population – the mediating role of working from home Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health education mediation analysis germany infection risk covid-19 pandemic work from home sars-cov-2 socioeconomic inequalities mediating role |
| title | Education and pandemic SARS-CoV-2 infections in the German working population – the mediating role of working from home |
| title_full | Education and pandemic SARS-CoV-2 infections in the German working population – the mediating role of working from home |
| title_fullStr | Education and pandemic SARS-CoV-2 infections in the German working population – the mediating role of working from home |
| title_full_unstemmed | Education and pandemic SARS-CoV-2 infections in the German working population – the mediating role of working from home |
| title_short | Education and pandemic SARS-CoV-2 infections in the German working population – the mediating role of working from home |
| title_sort | education and pandemic sars cov 2 infections in the german working population the mediating role of working from home |
| topic | education mediation analysis germany infection risk covid-19 pandemic work from home sars-cov-2 socioeconomic inequalities mediating role |
| url |
https://www.sjweh.fi/article/4144
|
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