Self-reported COVID-19 among physicians: An Egyptian online study during the pandemic

Background: COVID-19 causes a critical occupational risk to frontline healthcare workers ‎‎(HCWs) who respond to the pandemic, which places them at an increased risk of infection ‎exposure. A public health priority is to understand how transmission takes place to protect this ‎vulnerable group of HCWs. This study was carried out to estimate the incidence of self-reported ‎COVID-19 infection among physicians and its possible associated factors. Methods: An online ‎survey was initiated to collect sociodemographic, occupational, clinical data and describe affected ‎physicians' diagnoses. Results: The self-reported incidence of COVID-19 infection was found to ‎be 65.4% among studied physicians. The significant independent predictors of COVID-19 ‎infection were a smoker, frontline physician, having contact with a COVID-19 case, and working ‎for less than ten years [ARR (95% CI): 3.0(1.6-5.7), 2.3(1.4-3.8), 2.1(1.2-3.6), and 1.8(1.2-2.9); ‎respectively]. Conclusions: The incidence of COVID-19 infection among Egyptian physicians is ‎relatively high. ‎
Key words: COVID-19; physicians; pandemic; incidence‎