Factors associated with dyslipidemia among healthcare workers in a COVID-19-designated hospital in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China: A retrospective cohort study from 2019 to 2022

TL;DR

This study found that healthcare workers with more frontline experience and longer tenure were less likely to have dyslipidemia, while certain lipid levels increased the risk.

Contribution

The study identifies specific risk factors for dyslipidemia among healthcare workers in a Chinese hospital over a three-year period.

Findings

Healthcare workers with ≥30 days of frontline work had a 0.38 hazard ratio for dyslipidemia compared to those with 0 days.

Workers with ≥20 years of experience had a 0.47 hazard ratio for dyslipidemia compared to those with <10 years.

High TG, LDL, and TBIL levels were strongly associated with increased dyslipidemia risk.

Abstract

This study investigated dyslipidemia and its relative factors among Chinese healthcare workers from 2019 to 2022.

This retrospective cohort study was conducted from 2019 to 2022. The endpoints were dyslipidemia or the end of follow-up. Univariate Cox proportional hazard regression and LASSO regression models were used to select variables, and a multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression model was constructed to explore factors associated with dyslipidemia.

67 (9.2%) medical staff members were diagnosed with dyslipidemia, 106 (14.5%) resigned from the hospital, and 558 (76.3%) kept normal lipid files. Compared with healthcare workers with previous working time <10 years, the hazard ratios (HRs) of those with 10−20 years and ≥ 20 years of working experience were 0.34 (0.18–0.64) (P = 0.001) and 0.47 (0.26–0.85) (P = 0.01); compared with 0-day frontline working time, the HR of those with ≥ 30 days frontline working time was 0.38 (0.19–0.75) (P = 0.005). The HRs of TG, HDL, LDL, TBIL and HB were 3.14 (1.65–6.01) (P < 0.001), 0.20 (0.06–0.65) (P = 0.008), 2.93 (1.70–5.05) (P < 0.001), 1.06 (1.02–1.10) (P = 0.002) and 0.98 (0.97–0.99) (P = 0.04), respectively.

Healthcare workers with high frontline working time and longer previous working time were less likely to have dyslipidemia, while healthcare workers with high levels of TG, LDL, HB, TBIL, and low levels of HDL were more likely to have dyslipidemia. Supporting healthcare workers should be a priority for policymakers and hospital administrators.

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