Impact of COVID on the medical activity of occupational health departments

Abstract

Background To determine the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the number of occupational health consultations and to highlight influencing factors. Method Retrospective observational study of consultations from an inter-company occupational health service. Data were retrieved during three consecutive years: 2019 (baseline), and 2020–2021. For comparisons purposes, we used the number of occupational health consultations per day and per full-time equivalent occupational healthcare worker (n consultations/d/FTE). Multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression, for each lockdown vs the same period one year before. Results A total of 103,351 consultations were included. The number of consultations decreased by 14.3% in 2020 compared to 2019 but increased by 33.7% in 2021 compared to 2020. There were 4.9 consultations/d/FTE, 4.69 to 5.12 in 2019; 4.07, 3.81 to 4.34 in 2020; and 5.35, 5.16 to 5.55 in 2021. The first lockdown had a massive impact on the number of consultations, whereas the activity returned to normal from August 2020 with an increase in 2021. Age was associated with a decrease in the propension of consulting for the three lockdown periods (p < 0.001). The proportion of consultations for return-to-work was multiplied by 2.44 (2.02 to 2.95, p < 0.001) during the first lockdown, associated with a reduced risk of being declared unfit to work (OR = 0.48, 95 CI 0.27 to 0.84, p = 0.010). Conclusion The Covid-19 pandemic had a huge impact on the medical activity of occupational health departments, with a massive decrease in 2020 followed by an increase in 2021 compared to 2019.