Impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Care on the General Health Status of Healthcare Workers in Taiwan

Chen, Ning‐Hung; Wang, Pa‐Chun; Hsieh, Meng‐Jer; Huang, Chung-Chi; Kao, Kuo‐Chin; Chen, Yahui; Tsai, Ying‐Huang

doi:10.1086/508824

Cited by 43 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…12,[15][16][17] Increased workload, fear of infection due to patient care, inadequate training and equipment, and lack of support were risk factors for poor mental and physical health. [18][19][20][21][22] Similar ndings were reported in studies of medical workers who participated in the treatment of MERS patients. [23][24][25] However, we have identi ed no studies that focused on public health workers during outbreak control and prevention, despite their indispensable role in containing the epidemic.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Working condition and health status of 6,317 front line public health workers during the COVID-19 epidemic across 5 provinces in China: a cross-sectional study

Li¹,

Xu²,

Zhou³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Public health workers at China CDCs and primary health care institutes (PHI) constitute one of the main workforces for implementing prevention and control measures to contain the COVID-19 epidemic, but their efforts and health status have not been well documented. We aimed to investigate the working conditions and health status of frontline public health workers in China during the epidemic. Methods: Between February 18 to March 1, 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional survey among 2,313 CDC workers and 4,004 PHI workers in five provinces across China experiencing different scales of COVID-19 epidemic. We interviewed all participants about their work conditions, roles, burdens, perceptions, mental health, and self-rated health by self-constructed questionnaire and standardized measurements. To examine the independent associations between working conditions and health outcomes, we used multivariate regression models controlling for potential confounders. Results: The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and poor self-rated health was 21.3%, 19.0%, and 9.8%, respectively, among public health workers (27.1%, 20.6% and 15.0% among CDC workers; and 17.5%, 17.9% and 6.8% among PHI workers). The majority (71.6%) participated in both field and non-field work and gave immense efforts. Nearly 20.0% have worked all night for more than 3 days and 45.3% had worked during the whole period of Chinese New Year. Three risk factors and two protective factors were found independently associated with all three health outcomes in our final multivariate models, including working all night for >3 days (ORm=1.67~1.75, p<0.001), concerns about being infected at work (ORm=1.46~1.89, p<0.001), perceived troubles at work (ORm=1.10~1.28, p<0.001), starting COVID-19 prevention work after January 23 (ORm=0.78~0.82, p=0.002~0.008), and capability to persist for more than 1 month at the current work intensity (ORm=0.44~0.55, p<0.001). Conclusion: Chinese public health workers gave immense efforts and personal sacrifices to curb the COVID-19 epidemic and were exposed to risk of mental health problems. Efforts should be taken to improve the working condition and health status of public health workers to maintain the morale and effectiveness of public health workers in the fight against the epidemic.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Working condition and health status of 6,317 front line public health workers during the COVID-19 epidemic across 5 provinces in China: a cross-sectional study

Li¹,

Xu²,

Zhou³

et al. 2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…HCWs who are at the first line of battle under the influence of high fatality and intense media coverage will undoubtedly show the emotion of fear, anxiety, anger and frustration (Lu, Shu, Chang, & Lung, 2004;Maunder, Hunter, Vincent, Bennett, & Mazzulli, 2003). A survey of psychological impacts of 2003 SARS outbreak on HCWs in Taiwai showed that social functioning and immediate mental health were among the worst subscales after caring for patients with SARS (Chen et al, 2007). These results highlighted the emotional and occupational vulnerability of HCWs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Posttraumatic stress symptoms of health care workers during the corona virus disease 2019

Yin¹,

Sun²,

Liu

et al. 2020

Clin Psychology and Psychoth

183

167

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Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has attracted worldwide attention.The COVID-19 outbreak is unique in its rapid transmission and results in heavy stress for the front-line health care workers (HCWs). The current study aimed to exam posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs) of HCWs fighting for the COVID-19 and to evaluate their sleep quality after 1-month stressful suffering. Three hundred seventyseven HCWs working in different provinces of China participated in the survey between February 1 and 5. The demographic information was collected first. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were selected to measure PTSSs and sleep quality. Results showed that 1 month after the outbreak, the prevalence of PTSSs was 3.8% in HCWs. Female HCWs were more vulnerable to PTSSs with hazard ratio of 2.136 (95% CI = 1.388-3.286). HCWs with higher exposure level also significantly rated more hyperarousal symptoms (hazard ratio = 4.026, 95% CI = 1.233-13.140). There was a significant difference of sleep quality between participants with and without PTSSs (z value = 6.014, p < .001) and among different groups with various contact frequencies (chi-square = 7.307, p = .026). Path analysis showed that there was a significant indirect effect from exposure level to PTSSs through sleep quality (coefficient = 1.750, 95% CI of Boostroop test = 0.543-2.998). In summary, targeted interventions on sleep contribute to the mental recovery during the outbreak of COVID-19. Understanding the mental health response after a public health emergency might help HCWs and communities prepare for a population's response to disaster. K E Y W O R D S

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“…After the SARS epidemic, researchers in Taiwan (Chen et al 2007), Hong Kong (Chua et al 2004), Singapore (Koh et al 2005), and Canada (Maunder 2004, McAlonan et al 2007, Styra et al 2008) all documented significant stress, anxiety, and depression among healthcare workers. However, researchers in Toronto did not find any evidence that the SARS epidemic produced an increase in serious psychiatric disorders (Lancee et al 2008).…”

Section: Psychosocial Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preventing Absenteeism and Promoting Resilience Among Health Care Workers In Biological Emergencies

Lesperance¹,

Miller²

2009

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Executive SummarySince the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic, homeland security and emergency response communities have increasingly focused on planning for disaster medical surge capacity-the capacity of the health care system to respond to a large influx of patients after a disaster. The ability to ensure adequate numbers of medical staff represents a crucial part of the medical response to any disaster. However, healthcare worker absenteeism during disasters, especially in the event of an attack of biological terrorism or an epidemic, such as pandemic influenza, is a serious concern.Though a significant rate of absenteeism is often included as a baseline assumption in emergency planning, published reports on strategies to minimize absenteeism are comparatively few. This report documents interviews with managers and emergency response planners at hospitals and public health agencies and reviews existing survey data on healthcare worker absenteeism and studies of disasters to glean lessons about the needs of healthcare workers during those disasters. Based on this research, expected rates of absenteeism and individual determinants of absenteeism are presented along with recommendations of steps that hospitals, emergency medical services organizations, public health organizations, and government agencies can take to meet the needs of healthcare workers and minimize absenteeism during a biological event.v AcknowledgmentsThis work was conducted in support of the Interagency Biological Restoration Demonstration, a collaborative regional program jointly funded by the U.S. Department of Defense-Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designed to develop policies, methods, plans, and applied technologies to restore large urban areas, DoD installations, and critical infrastructure following the release of a biological event.

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Impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Care on the General Health Status of Healthcare Workers in Taiwan

Abstract: The impact of the SARS outbreak on SARS HCWs was significant in many dimensions of general health. The vitality and mental health status of SARS HCWs 1 month after self-quarantine and off-duty shifts remained inferior to those of the control group.

Cited by 43 publications

References 15 publications

Working condition and health status of 6,317 front line public health workers during the COVID-19 epidemic across 5 provinces in China: a cross-sectional study

Working condition and health status of 6,317 front line public health workers during the COVID-19 epidemic across 5 provinces in China: a cross-sectional study

Posttraumatic stress symptoms of health care workers during the corona virus disease 2019

Preventing Absenteeism and Promoting Resilience Among Health Care Workers In Biological Emergencies

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