@article {Patele5, author = {Mehool Patel and Meera Nair and Eric Pirozzoli and Marta C Cienfuegos and Elizabeth Aitken}, title = {Prevalence and socio-demographic factors of SARS-CoV-2 antibody in multi-ethnic healthcare workers}, volume = {21}, number = {1}, pages = {e5--e8}, year = {2021}, doi = {10.7861/clinmed.2020-0619}, publisher = {Royal College of Physicians}, abstract = {Introduction Healthcare workers are particularly susceptible to developing COVID-19 owing to close and frequent contact with COVID-19 patients. This cross-sectional study aimed to describe prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among healthcare workers within a hospital trust and examine factors associated with increased prevalence of this antibody.Methods Data was obtained over a 4-week period in 2020 from a cross-sectional prospective survey of healthcare workers serving a multi-ethnic inner-city population who had immunoglobulin G SARS-CoV-2 antibody test. Anonymised socio-demographic data about staff were cross-referenced with these tests.Results Of 7,013 staff, 6,212 (89\%) undertook the antibody test during this period. Overall detection rate was 26\% (1,584/6,212). Univariate analyses revealed no differences in prevalence in terms of gender or age. Compared with white staff members (18\%), rates were higher in black (38\%) and Asian (27\%) members (p\<0.001). The rates in general wards (43\%) were higher compared with other areas; in emergency medicine and intensive care, prevalence was 23\% (p\<0.001). Regarding professional groups, prevalence was highest among nursing and allied clinical services (28\%), less in doctors (23\%) and lower in non-clinical staff (19\%).Discussion This large study has described prevalence of recent exposure to SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare workers and determined associations including ethnicity, professional groups and geographical areas within healthcare settings. This information will be useful in future COVID-19 studies examining the role of antibody testing both in general populations and in healthcare settings.}, issn = {1470-2118}, URL = {https://www.rcpjournals.org/content/21/1/e5}, eprint = {https://www.rcpjournals.org/content/21/1/e5.full.pdf}, journal = {Clinical Medicine} }