Healthcare workers experience overwhelming occupational and psycho-emotional stress during COVID-19 pandemic. Occupational stress leads to emotional burnout, can cause anxiety, depression and other psychopathological symptoms, influencing the quality of medical care. Existing situation necessitates to define risk factors, influencing occupational stress in healthcare workers in order to develop ways and methods to overcome it. Aim of the study was to identify socio-psychological factors associated with occupational stress in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 epidemic in Ukraine. Using a specially designed questionnaire, an online survey of 1,100 medical workers was conducted in all regions of Ukraine. Questioning was carried out over three weeks from 30.03.2020 to 21.04.2020, during the period of quarantine. The majority of respondents were female medical workers (79.9%). Age of respondents: up to 30 years – 179 (16.2%), from 31 to 60 – 824 (75.0%), over 60 – 97 (8.8%), among them doctors – 695 (63.1%) 236 nurses (21.5%), more than a third are general practitioners. Direct care for patients with COVID-19 was provided by 170 (15.5%) medical personnel. The analysis of the results of the questionnaire enabled to determine the peculiarities of medical worker`s response to the situation in connection with COVID-19 and highlight the emotional and behavioral factors associated with stress that are significant for most respondents. The study answered the questions regarding the perceived risk associated with the spread, contamination and death related to coronavirus. The most significant factors affecting the occurrence of stress in medical workers are identified. Along with this, factors contributing to stress coping have been identified as well. For subsequent statistical processing, all respondents were divided into two groups depending on the severity of the anxiety/fear. Comparison of these groups by socio-demographic indicators was done using the test χ2. There were no statistically significant differences between groups in all socio-demographic indicators, except for age. That is, only the age factor affected the severity of anxiety/fear among healthcare workers due to COVID-19 (p<0.05). Comparative analysis to assess the severity of stress in groups was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Healthcare workers with severe anxiety/fear have a high risk for development of occupational stress during a COVID-19 pandemic (p<0.01). In conclusion, the need for the development and implementation of methods for the prevention of occupational stress in medical workers in the current epidemic situation is substantiated.
The paper is devoted to the study of the development of psychiatry and its establishment as a science in the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. The leading method of research was the analysis and synthesis of historical sources of the 19th to 21st centuries. The historical analysis of the development of psychiatry was carried out through the study of the life and scientific path of Ivan Sikorsky, Mykhailo Lapinsky, Volodymyr Seletsky, who were the founders of psychiatry as an academic discipline in Ukraine. In 2020, 135 years have passed since the foundation of the Department of Nervous and Mental Diseases in the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. The founders of the department are well-known talented scientists, whose activities have enriched psychiatric science. But from 1920 to 2019, psychiatry as a science and a subject of teaching disappeared from the University. Psychiatry received its further development at the university in 2019, with establishment of the Institute of Psychiatry. The practical significance of the study lies in the substantial contribution to the history of domestic medical science, in particular, mental disorder studies, as well as the possibility of using the findings in the teaching of an educational course in psychiatry.
The aim: To study the emotional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers in Ukraine. Materials and methods: 1087 healthcare workers across all regions of Ukraine completed an online questionnaire. Respondents were divided into two groups: A – 863 (79.4%), В – 224 (20.6%), according to whether or not they experienced anxiety/fear related to COVID-19. Results: Such factors as risk of contracting COVID-19, news of new cases, insufficient staff in healthcare facilities, risk of transmission of COVID-19 to family or friends, risk of death from COVID-19, the threat of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with high level of anxiety/fear among healthcare workers. Factors that facilitate coping with stress included absence of Covid-19 cases among staff, recovering patients, availability of gear and protective equipment and absence of COVID-19 infected among loved ones, relieving stress (relaxation, going info sports and so on), communication with family and friends to relieve stress and get support, avoidance of COVID-19 media reports in particular on deaths connected cases, getting information about the spread of Covid-19 only from legitimate sources. Conclusions: The data obtained in this study indicate an urgent need for the development and implementation of preventive and rehabilitation measures aimed at stabilizing the psycho-emotional state of health workers and improving the quality of care in the special conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Achieving these goals will be facilitated by taking into account the specifics of the response to COVID-19 and measures to reduce the effects of stress while enhancing the effects of stressors among health care workers.
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