Mental Health Differences in Healthcare Workers Exposed to Different Risks During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Abstract

BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a significant impact on the physical and mental health of healthcare workers. This study assessed the psychological status of healthcare workers who were exposed to different risk-levels in China and explored the factors that affected their mental health.MethodsDemographic, occupational characteristics, and mental health measurements were collected from 810 workers in 41 hospitals in China, through online questionnaires from February 11 to March 3, 2020. The degree of symptoms for fatigue, anxiety, and insomnia were assessed using the Chinese versions of the Fatigue Severity Scale, 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, and Insomnia Severity Index, respectively. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with mental health symptoms.ResultsAll 810 participants completed the relevant questionnaires without missing data. The prevalence of fatigue, anxiety, and insomnia symptoms was 74.3, 73.7, and 61.7%, respectively. Nurses, women, and workers exposed to high-risk areas were more likely to report mental health problems (P < 0.05). After controlling for confounders, exposure to high-risk areas was independently associated with increased symptoms of fatigue, anxiety, and insomnia (fatigue among high-risk areas: OR, 3.87; 95% CI, 2.26–6.61; P < 0.001; anxiety among high-risk areas: OR, 2.66; 95% CI, 1.58–4.51; P < 0.001; insomnia among high-risk areas: OR, 2.83; 95% CI, 1.68–4.79, P < 0.001).ConclusionThe study demonstrated significant differences in psychological symptoms among healthcare workers exposed to different levels of risk, and those in high-risk areas were more vulnerable to experiencing mental health symptoms. These findings emphasize the importance of giving due attention to healthcare workers, especially women, nurses, and those working in high-risk settings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inequality on the frontline: A multi-country study on gender differences in mental health among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Notably, among nurses only, women no longer reported more mental health problems than men, and the relation between contact with COVID-19 patients and mental health became non-significant only among men. It has been previously found that, in comparison to other HCWs, nurses face a heightened risk of experiencing mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic (Zhang et al, 2022), with some studies finding an even more increased risk among women compared to men in this group (Simonetti et al, 2021;Varghese et al, 2021), which is not consistent with our findings. In our sample there was considerable overlap between gender and occupation roles since most nurses (84.4%) were women.…”

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health: A Scoping Review

“…Depression, anxiety, and stress were the most studied mental health conditions. Most studies reported a high (prevalence ≥ 50%) vulnerability to these three mental conditions (21,22,36,39,43,44,47,57,62,74,86) This finding is consistent with previous studies (95,96).On the contrary, Jörns-Presentati et al, (94), reported a lower prevalence (29.0%) of depression. According to the WHO, the pandemic spiked with a 25% increase in the prevalence of mental disorders worldwide (7,95,96).…”

“…This finding is in line with the WHO observation that depression and anxiety disorders were higher in places with higher COVID-19 cases (113,114). This is supported by previous studies that showed that the fear and anxiety associated with the threatening numbers of cases and death in people's neighborhood was seen earlier to increase the serious risk for mental breakdown (115) since a perceived or actual increase in the risk of exposure to COVID-19 was a major driver for adverse mental health (48,74). Some studies reported that poor psychosocial support increased the prevalence and severity of mental health disorders among vulnerable population groups such as strictly isolated or heavily quarantined persons (116), individuals who lacked family support or care (117), elderly persons in need of nursing care (49,118), persons at risk of losing their jobs (33), persons without financial and social support (24,30,42,47,54,63,69,77,119), divorced persons (23,65,79), and relatives and guardians of sick persons (84).…”

“…The females (65), frontline workers (109,110), people who were ill (41,66), who work long hours (68,153), whose job increased their exposure to COVID-19 (48,74), were living in proximity to COVID-19 cases, (22,45,82), were young or older (4,5,35,62,83,84,107,116,118,(154)(155)(156)(157)(158)(159), had lower economic & education status, weak psychological makeup, and low social supports (142) had higher levels of mental health conditions during the pandemic (7,113,148), which serves as a call to set up protective measures for this population during any interventions.…”

Ansiedade em Profissionais dos Cuidados de Saúde Primários na Primeira Vaga da Pandemia COVID-19

“…Nesse contexto, qualquer fator de stress adicional pode desencadear ou agravar a ansiedade de cada indivíduo e afetar a sua capacidade cognitiva (3) (4). Na era da COVID-19, os profissionais de saúde, diretamente e indiretamente envolvidos no combate à pandemia, estiveram diariamente expostos ao risco de serem infetados pelo SARS-CoV-2, aumentando o risco de desenvolver ou agravar problemas de saúde mental (5). Questões como fadiga física, stress psicológico, défice de stock ou negligência no uso do equipamento de proteção individual ou de outras medidas de segurança afetaram os médicos, enfermeiros e assistentes (6).…”