Vulnerabilities in workplace features for essential workers with breast cancer: Implications for the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was a secondary analysis of an existing cohort, and no power calculation was performed. The data were collected before the pandemic, so the workplace environment may differ now. The sample came from New York City medical centers in a state with relatively strong worker protections, so results may not apply elsewhere. Essential-worker status was partly inferred from self-reported job descriptions, and participants who could not be ruled out as essential workers were assumed to be essential. Follow-up survey data had missing information because 15% of participants dropped out, and those lost to follow-up were more likely to be Black or African American and to report an individual income of less than $50K annually. The participants were women with breast cancer and were virtually all insured, so the results may not reflect the workplace experiences of uninsured essential workers. The study reports associations in a specific sample and does not test whether any workplace change improves employment outcomes.

One author, Victoria Blinder, has been a consultant for Workplace Transitions for People Touched by Cancer. Funding for that toolkit's development and evaluation, including salary support for Blinder, was provided by the Anthem Foundation and Pfizer. Sujata Patil consults with ByHeart. Madelyn Klugman and Francesca Gany have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Do not conclude that essential workers had worse workplace environments overall. The study found no statistically significant differences in workplace-environment perceptions between essential and non-essential workers; the clear differences were in benefits and insurance.