Flight attendant occupational nutrition and lifestyle factors associated with COVID-19 incidence
Jessica J Yamamoto, Elizabeth T Brandley, Trina C Ulrich
Scientific Reports, doi:10.1038/s41598-021-04350-0
In the era of COVID-19, essential workers are plagued with unforeseen and obfuscated challenges. Flight attendants are a unique subgroup of essential workers who face a multitude of health risks attributed to occupational exposures that are accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Such risks can be ameliorated with strategies that target factors which enhance COVID-19 risk, including modifiable factors of diet and lifestyle. The aim of this cross-sectional study is to detect occupational dietary and lifestyle factors which could increase COVID-19 incidence amongst flight attendants. To identify potential risk factors, a questionnaire was administered to eighty-four flight attendants and examined the participants' diet and lifestyle, and COVID-19 incidence. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression indicated that the participants' perceived dietary quality at work (p = 0.003), sleep disruptions which impacted their consumption of a healthy diet (p = 0.013), job tenure (OR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.46:0.98) and frequency of reported cold/flu (OR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.014-2.189) were all factors associated with confirmed/suspected COVID-19 incidence. This study also revealed that a lack of infrastructure for food storage and time limitations are considerable occupational barriers for flight attendants to consume healthy foods. Additional investigation can further elucidate these relationships and related solutions to mitigate COVID-19 risk in the future. In 2019, a novel coronavirus strain identified as SARS-CoV-2 emerged ushering in the beginning of the COVID-19 global pandemic 1 . COVID-19 is the coined name for the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes a highly infectious respiratory illness that spreads rapidly from person to person via aerosols or droplets expelled by the mouth when coughing, talking, or breathing, or less commonly from contact with contaminated surfaces accompanied by subsequent facial contact 1,2 . This disease has been shown to disproportionately affect individuals with comorbid conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, cancer, chronic kidney disease and obesity with age, race, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, and residence in areas with higher air pollution being amongst other factors which have been identified to increase risks and/or severity for this infectious disease [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] . By mid-2021, the COVID-19 virus has impacted individuals and families across the globe with approximately 185 million confirmed cases, and approximately 4 million deaths according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 15 . These unprecedent times sent the global economy into a rapid halt in many occupational sectors due to lockdowns designed to prevent the spread of the virus 15, 16 . Essential workers were amongst those who were left on the frontlines despite global lockdowns due to their necessity in ensuring the..
Author contributions The study was conceptualized by J.Y., and E.B., J.Y., E.B., T.U. developed the survey instrument and decided on study methodology. J.Y. administered the survey and recruited participants. E.B. organized the data and J.Y.
Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests.
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