Agricultural workers in meatpacking plants presenting to an emergency department with suspected COVID-19 infection are disproportionately Black and Hispanic
dc.contributor.author | House, Hans R. | |
dc.contributor.author | Vakkalanka, J. Priyanka | |
dc.contributor.author | Behrens, Nathan G. | |
dc.contributor.author | Haan, Jessica De | |
dc.contributor.author | Halbur, Christopher R. | |
dc.contributor.author | Harrington, Elaine M. | |
dc.contributor.author | Patel, Pooja H. | |
dc.contributor.author | Rawwas, Lulua | |
dc.contributor.author | Camargo, Carlos A. | |
dc.contributor.author | Kline, Jeffrey A. | |
dc.contributor.department | Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine | en_US |
dc.date.accessioned | 2022-01-11T20:19:59Z | |
dc.date.available | 2022-01-11T20:19:59Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2021-09 | |
dc.description.abstract | Objective Facilities that process and package meat for consumer sale and consumption (meatpacking plants) were early sites of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreaks. The aim of this study was to characterize the association between meatpacking plant exposure and clinical outcomes among emergency department (ED) patients with COVID-19 symptoms. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of patients presenting to a single ED, from March 1 to May 31, 2020, who had: 1) symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and 2) a COVID-19 test performed. The primary outcome was COVID-19 positivity, and secondary outcomes included hospital admission from the ED, ventilator use, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, hospital length of stay (LOS; <48 or ≥48 h), and mortality. Results Patients from meatpacking plants were more likely to be Black or Hispanic than the ED patients without this occupational exposure. Patients with a meatpacking plant exposure were more likely to test positive for COVID-19 (adjusted relative risk [aRR] = 2.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.59 to 3.53) but had similar rates of hospital admission (aRR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.82 to 1.07) and hospital LOS (aRR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.45 to 1.23). There was no significant difference in ventilator use among patients with meatpacking and nonmeatpacking plant exposure (8.2% vs. 11.1%, p = 0.531), ICU admissions (4.1% vs. 12.0%, p = 0.094), and mortality (2.0% vs. 4.1%, p = 0.473). Conclusions Workers in meatpacking plants in Iowa had a higher rate of testing positive for COVID-19 but were not more likely to be hospitalized for their illness. These patients were disproportionately Black and Hispanic. | en_US |
dc.eprint.version | Author's manuscript | en_US |
dc.identifier.citation | House, H. R., Vakkalanka, J. P., Behrens, N. G., Haan, J. D., Halbur, C. R., Harrington, E. M., Patel, P. H., Rawwas, L., Camargo, C. A., & Kline, J. A. (2021). Agricultural workers in meatpacking plants presenting to an emergency department with suspected COVID-19 infection are disproportionately Black and Hispanic. Academic Emergency Medicine, 28(9), 1012-1018. https://doi.org/10.1111/acem.14314 | en_US |
dc.identifier.issn | 1553-2712 | en_US |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1805/27355 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
dc.publisher | Wiley | en_US |
dc.relation.isversionof | 10.1111/acem.14314 | en_US |
dc.relation.journal | Academic Emergency Medicine | en_US |
dc.rights | Publisher Policy | en_US |
dc.source | Author | en_US |
dc.subject | Agricultural Workers | en_US |
dc.subject | COVID-19 | en_US |
dc.subject | Meatpacking Plants | en_US |
dc.title | Agricultural workers in meatpacking plants presenting to an emergency department with suspected COVID-19 infection are disproportionately Black and Hispanic | en_US |
dc.type | Article | en_US |
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