Anxiety and concerns related to the work situation during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in >5000 patients with inflammatory rheumatic disease followed in the DANBIO registry

The World Health Organization has expressed concerns that some workers may be at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 illness because of age or pre-existing medical conditions.4 Despite being a topic on the political agenda, in social media and patient organisations, surprisingly little is known regarding the impact of the ongoing pandemic on anxiety and concerns related to the work situation, and in a review of the medical literature, we found no previous research publications regarding patients with IRD. Demographic and clinical factors associated with work-related concerns were explored with multivariable logistic regression (mostly or completely agree vs other responses) including gender, age (60 years), diagnosis (RA/PsA/AxSpA/other), educational level (higher/lower), other comorbidities (yes/no/missing), biological DMARD (bDMARD) treatment (yes/no) and health-related QoL (EQ-5D) (below/above median). Among 14 758 respondents (38% of eligible patients), 5950 patients (40%) were working (60% full time/31% part time/9% self-employed), 61% were female, median age was 55 (IQR 47–60) years, 53% had RA/19% PsA/20% AxSpA/9% other IRD, 53% had higher educational level, 47% reported other comorbidities, 36% received bDMARDs, and self-reported EQ-5D was median 0.80 (IQR 0.74–0.86). In multivariable logistic regression analyses including respondents with complete data (n=5878), factors associated with being concerned about being in the work environment were female gender (odds ratio (OR) (95% CI) 1.96 (1.68 to 2.28)), higher educational level (1.34 (1.17 to 1.54)), other comorbidities (yes vs no, 1.37 (1.19 to 1.58)), treatment with bDMARDs (1.46 (1.27 to 1.68)) and poorer EQ-5D (2.71 (2.35 to 3.13)) (all p