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.

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BibTeX

@article{dogbla2026impact,
  title = {{Impact of COVID on the medical activity of occupational health departments}},
  author = {Luther Dogbla and Amine Ben Jaber and Julien Baker and Gil Boudet and Ilhem Karoui and Ahmed Hajji and Asma Korbi and Ukadike Chris Ugbolue and François-Xavier Lesage and Marek Zak and Aurélien Mulliez and Frédéric Dutheil},
  journal = {PLoS ONE},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0323018},
  url = {https://hal.science/hal-05744239v1},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Impact of COVID on the medical activity of occupational health departments
AU  - Luther Dogbla
AU  - Amine Ben Jaber
AU  - Julien Baker
AU  - Gil Boudet
AU  - Ilhem Karoui
AU  - Ahmed Hajji
AU  - Asma Korbi
AU  - Ukadike Chris Ugbolue
AU  - François-Xavier Lesage
AU  - Marek Zak
AU  - Aurélien Mulliez
AU  - Frédéric Dutheil
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/09
JO  - PLoS ONE
DO  - 10.1371/journal.pone.0323018
UR  - https://hal.science/hal-05744239v1
AB  - 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.
SN  - 1932-6203
SN  - 1932-6203
ER  -

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