Caring for Psychological Distress of Patients With COVID-19: A Mixed-Method Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

IntroductionThe 2019–2020 pandemic COVID-19 has become a global health crisis. While many recent studies on COVID-19 pandemic have focused on disease epidemiology and psychological status of patients, few have explored the multi-facet influential factors or combined perspectives from both the patients and healthcare workers. The purposes of this study were to: analyze the influencing factors of psychological distress of COVID-19 patients; and describe the experience of healthcare workers relieving psychological distress.Materials and MethodsThis study uses a mixed-method cross-sectional design, including a quantitative study and a qualitative study, targeting two populations: COVID-19 patient and health workers, respectively. In the quantitative part, we recruited a convenience sample of patients with COVID-19 from five hospitals in Wuhan, Hubei Province from 10 to 15 April, 2020. Besides, we collected data by using participants’ socio-demographic information sheet, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10, the Herth Hope Index, the Distress Thermometer, the Revised Chinese Version of Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale, and the Chinese Version of Wake Forest Physician Trust Scale. In the qualitative part, the participants were healthcare workers involved in medical aid missions in Hubei Province, China. Meanwhile, we used sampling with convenient and purposive, data collection with a semi-structured online video interview, and text transcription with Colaizzi’s phenomenological method.ResultsThe results reveal that 25.7% of patients reported higher level of psychological distress (n = 31, scoring ≥4). After controlling the sociodemographic variables, only severity of COVID-19 (β = 0.282, P = 0.025) and uncertainty in illness (β = 0.345, P = 0.007) shown significant effect on psychological distress in the regression model (F = 10.862, R2 = 0.222, P < 0.001). The experience of healthcare workers emerged five themes: Particularly needed psychological care, Manifestation of negative emotion, Manifestation of proactive adaptation, Strategies relieving psychological distress, and gains of healthcare workers after delivering effective psychological care.ConclusionThe 25.7% of patients with COVID-19 still suffered from psychological distress, which should receive timely attention from healthcare workers. And the severity of the disease and disease uncertainty have a significant impact on distress. It is critical to train the healthcare workers on detecting the different manifestation of psychological distress, offering timely disease related information, and applying communication strategies.

Perceptions of Family Caregivers in the Caring for COVID-19 Patient: Self-Sacrificing Management, Fear, and Loneliness to Protect the Patient—A Qualitative Content Analysis

“…Te results examine comprehensive care including diet, exercise, yoga, music, constructive interactions, including reading or playing with patients, and herbal and traditional remedies showed that the integration of new treatments and the provision of comprehensive care significantly increase the quality of care and reduces the negative aspect of the psychological dimension of isolation in patients [26]. Te results on the actions of formal caregivers for patients with COVID-19 also showed that the most important thing to deal with patient's psychological distress is to meet the patient's needs as much as possible and to promote the emotional connection between patients and caregivers and their families and providing ways to divert attention such as watching TV and listening to music [27]. In the present study, caregivers sacrifced their time, energy, fnancial resources, relationships, and feelings for others to care for their patients, consciously and responsibly, regardless of the consequences of 24-hour care.…”

Intrinsic drive of medical staff: a survey of employee representatives from 22 hospitals in China

“…Common intervention methods are recommended that combine psychological expertise and the characteristics of ID. Policymakers should establish a favorable environment to improve doctor-patient interactions and develop multi-dimensional social support to positively impact medical staff motivation ( Li et al, 2022 ). Administrators may help lead cognitive assessments by conducting group counseling and psychology lectures ( Bao et al, 2020 ; Wang et al, 2021 ; Wan et al, 2022 ), implementing cognitive behavioral and organizational behavioral treatments focused on mindfulness ( Hammer et al, 2015 ; David et al, 2018 ; Harolds, 2020a ; Naser et al, 2021 ), and assisting employees to keep a healthy work-life balance to improve their work concentration.…”

Physical as Well as Psychological Distress and Coping with Situational Dilemmas Experienced by People Infected with COVID-19: A Mixed Method Study

“…In Thailand, the number of male patients was higher than female [ 9 ]. The 25.7% of patients with COVID-19 still suffered from psychological distress, which should receive timely attention from healthcare workers, and the severity of the disease and disease uncertainty has a significant impact on distress [ 10 ]. A systematic review and meta-analysis reported that the global prevalence estimate was 28% for depression, 26.9% for anxiety, 24.1% for post-traumatic stress symptoms, 36.5% for stress, 50% for psychological distress, and 27.6% for sleep problems [ 11 ].…”