Prevalence and associated factors of COVID-19 across Italian regions: a secondary analysis from a national survey on physiotherapists.
Simone Gambazza, Silvia Bargeri, Isabella Campanini and 4 others
PMID 34915932WHAT IT FOUND
Physiotherapists in Northern and Central Italy had significantly higher odds of testing positive for COVID-19 than those in Southern regions.
Working in hospitals and cardio-respiratory fields increased risk, while female sex and younger age were protective. Regional differences in PPE access and lockdown timing likely drove these disparities.
Key findings
01Working in Northern and Central regions increased the odds of testing positive for COVID-19 compared to Southern regions (OR 3.4).
02Physiotherapists working in cardio-respiratory fields had higher infection odds than those in orthopedic-musculoskeletal fields, where the protective effect was statistically significant (OR 0.47).
03Reallocating physiotherapists to different units or changing their job tasks was associated with increased odds of infection, though these results did not reach statistical significance.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study relies on self-reported data, which may be inaccurate. Response rates varied by region, with Southern Italy having the lowest response rate, which could bias prevalence estimates. The clustering of regions was based on response rates, which may not perfectly align with epidemiological boundaries or exposure risks. The study could not standardize data for the total number of physiotherapists or tests performed per region, so regional prevalence rates are not directly comparable in absolute terms. As a cross-sectional survey, it cannot establish causality between work characteristics and infection risk.
Declared interests
The study was funded by Associazione Italiana Fisioterapia (AIFI), the Italian Association of Physiotherapists.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the association between job reallocation and infection risk as causal; the study found a non-significant trend, and the primary driver of regional differences was likely the varying intensity of the pandemic and lockdown measures across Italy, not just individual work tasks.