INEQUITIES IN PHYSICAL DISTANCING PRACTICES IN THE US WORKPLACE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

ABSTRACT

SESSION TITLE What Lessons Will We Take From the Pandemic? SESSION TYPE Rapid Fire Original Inv PRESENTED ON 10/19/2022 1115 am - 1215 pm PURPOSE: Physical distancing is a fundamental community mitigation strategy that averts adverse health outcomes from COVID-19 and other transmissible illnesses. Despite national policies in place, racial/ethnic minority groups and individuals with lower socioeconomic status had disproportionately worse COVID-19 outcomes. Barriers to adherence to these public health recommendations may underlie some of these disparities. We, therefore, examined physical distancing practices according to racial/ethnic group, educational attainment, and income level in the US. METHODS: The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), an annual cross-sectional survey that collects health indicators for noninstitutionalized civilians, was queried for adult respondents interviewed in 2020. We included adults who were working at any point in the past 12 months prior to the interview. Respondents working the week prior to the interview were identified in subgroup analyses. The outcomes of interest were rates of self-reported physical distancing measures in the workplace and non-adherence to these measures. Sample-weighted proportions and 95% confidence intervals were estimated and Pearson χ2 tests (α=0.05) were conducted to compare outcomes across racial/ethnic, educational, and income categories. Data were publicly available and deidentified, therefore institutional review was not sought. RESULTS: 9,501 respondents aged ≥18 years reported working at any point in the past 12 months prior to the interview. After weighting, 88.3% (n=8,427) reported having physical distancing measures in the workplace. In subgroup analyses of 8,394 individuals who worked in the last week, 91.2% (n=7,713) reported currently having physical distancing measures in the workplace. Rates of having social distancing measures in the workplace were higher with increasing educational attainment and income level (Table). Black and Hispanic individuals worked at places with higher rates of non-adherence to physical distancing measures compared with White and Asian respondents. Rates of non-adherence to physical distancing in the workplace were lower with increasing educational attainment and income level (Table). CONCLUSIONS: In 2020, higher rates of having physical distancing measures in the workplace were seen among more educated and higher-income individuals. Higher rates of non-adherence to these measures at the place of work were seen among Black and Hispanic individuals and those with lower educational attainment and income level. Limitations of this study include the self-reported nature of data, small sample sizes of some minority populations, and lack of granularity in work settings. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS Varying working conditions are possible barriers to adherence to public policies. Future efforts are needed to elucidate and mitigate the factors behind inequities in the ability to adhere to public health recommendations and disparities in health outcomes. DISCLOSURES No relevant relationships by Deepak Bhatt No relevant relationships by Edward Christopher Dee No relevant relationships by Enrico Ferro No relevant relationships by Bhav Jain No relevant relationships by Bisola Ojikutu No relevant relationships by Joseph Alexander Paguio No relevant relationships by Jasper Seth Yao