Associations between the working experiences at frontline of COVID-19 pandemic and mental health of Korean public health doctors

Abstract

Background Demographic, work environmental, and psychosocial features are associated with mental health of healthcare professionals at pandemic frontline. The current study aimed to find predictors of mental health for public health doctors from working experiences at frontline of COVID-19 pandemic. Methods With first-come and first-served manner, 350 public health doctors with experiences of work at COVID-19 frontline participated online survey on August 2020. Mental health was defined using the total scores of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Stanford Presenteeism Scale-6. Multivariate logistic regression models of mental health with lowest Akaike Information Criterion were determined among all combinations of working environments, perceived threats and satisfaction at frontline, and demographics that were significant (P < 0.05) in the univariate logistic regression. Results Perceived distress, lowered self-efficacy at work, anxiety, and depressive mood were reported by 45.7, 34.6, 11.4, and 15.1% of respondents, respectively. Predictors of poor mental health found in the multivariate logistic regression analyses were environmental (insufficient personal protective equipment, workplace of screening center, prolonged workhours) and psychosocial (fear of infection and death, social stigma and rejection) aspects of working experiences at frontline. Satisfaction of monetary compensation and proactive coping (acceptance and willingness to volunteer at frontline) were predictive of better mental health. Conclusions Sufficient supply of personal protective equipment and training on infection prevention at frontline, proper workhours and satisfactory monetary compensation, and psychological supports are required for better mental health of public health doctors at frontline of COVID-19 pandemic.

Feeling Anxious Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Factors Associated With Anxiety Symptoms Among Nurses in Hong Kong

“…Such fear might drive stigmatizing behaviors among the public and relatives (e.g., avoidance toward their acquaintances and neighbors who worked as healthcare workers) (Stangl et al, 2019). The finding has been in line with studies on healthcare workers in Bangladesh (Khan et al, 2021), Korea (Han et al, 2021), and the US (Hennein et al, 2021), implying that such phenomenon might be culturally universal. In addition, it is noteworthy that nurses who worked in the "dirty team" were more likely to report a higher level of perceived stigma.…”

“…Not surprisingly, we found that different aspects of COVID-19 worries (including worries of contracting COVID-19, family members being infected with COVID-19 from participants' nursing duties, insufficiency of personal protection equipment at workplace) were independently contributing to anxiety symptoms among the nurses in Hong Kong. Similar findings have been reported in healthcare workers in other countries, including China (Zhang et al, 2021), Korea (Han et al, 2021), and the US (Hennein et al, 2021). Providing nurses with safe and secure work environments and sufficient supply of personal protective equipment is required for protection of mental health among nurses coping with the pandemic.…”

“…To better understand how working environment might affect healthcare workers' adjustments to the COVID-19, it will still be important to further examine other aspects of work settings and arrangements and their contributions to those workers' well-being. For example, a previous study showed that satisfaction with the workload and the capability of participating in decision making were associated with fewer anxiety symptoms, whereas satisfaction with monetary compensation was associated with lower perceived stress among public health doctors in Korea (Han et al, 2021). Having more detailed analysis on the roles of specific aspects of work arrangements will benefit health organizations/institutions to adjust their measures to serve the needs of the healthcare workers.…”

“…Working at hospitals and clinics during COVID-19 pandemic might increase nurses' worries about passing infection to family members being due to their jobs, which in turn affect healthcare workers' well-being (Li et al, 2020;Walton et al, 2020). It has also been found that healthcare workers' worries about insufficient personal protective equipment were associated with higher distress among healthcare workers in the United States (Hennein et al, 2021) and Korea (Han et al, 2021). Relevant studies are limited in the Hong Kong context.…”

Impact of COVID-19 on Lifestyle, Personal Attitudes, and Mental Health Among Korean Medical Students: Network Analysis of Associated Patterns

“…In total, 507 of 597 students (84.9%), higher percentage of response than other recent studies for medical students (34) or public health doctors (35) during COVID-19 pandemic, responded to the questionnaire. After excluding data for 53 students with missing values, our final dataset included deidentified responses from 454 medical students (123 in the first year of medical school, 110 in the second year, 121 in the third year, and 100 in the fourth year) at Seoul National University College of Medicine during June and July of 2020.…”