Professional Quality of Life and Mental Health Outcomes among Health Care Workers Exposed to Sars-Cov-2 (Covid-19)

Buselli, R; Corsi, Martina; Baldanzi, Sigrid; Chiumiento, Martina; Lupo, Elena Del; Dell’Oste, Valerio; Bertelloni, Carlo Antonio; Massimetti, Gabriele; Dell’Osso, Liliana; Cristaudo, Alfonso; Carmassi, Claudia

doi:10.3390/ijerph17176180

Cited by 264 publications

(335 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Other studies have indicated that among healthcare professionals, women report higher levels of ST than men, in line with previous research on sex and the most recent studies on pandemics in Italy [15], and that ST negatively impacts the mental health of healthcare professionals in terms of both anxiety and depression [6]. However, only a few studies have also included emergency workers, who have played a fundamental role in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 54%

“…ST is an emotional response or tension due to treating those suffering from the consequences of traumatic events and is different from the primary post-traumatic stress disorder that may be diagnosed in an individual who has experienced a traumatic event. Medical staff and emergency workers are generally more at risk of developing secondary than primary trauma [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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COVID-19: Risk Factors and Protective Role of Resilience and Coping Strategies for Emergency Stress and Secondary Trauma in Medical Staff and Emergency Workers—An Online-Based Inquiry

et al. 2020

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The COVID-19 crisis has placed a heavy burden on medical staff and emergency workers, who may be at risk of developing psychological distress and secondary trauma. Coping and resilience to stress during a pandemic are protective factors that can mitigate the potential adverse psychological effects. Here, we investigated the direct and mediated effects of coping strategies and hardiness on secondary trauma among Italian medical staff (physicians and nurses, n = 140) and emergency workers (firefighters, civil protection, and ambulance personnel, n = 100) involved in the first phase of the pandemic. For this purpose, we collected data from participants through online questionnaires to measure emergency stress, coping strategies, hardiness, and secondary trauma. Other variables analyzed were age, sex, direct contact with COVID-19 patients, and use of personal protective equipment (PPE). We performed a correlational analysis, regressions, and a mediation analysis. The results show that nurses and physicians experienced higher levels of emergency stress than emergency workers. Direct contact with COVID-19 patients, female sex, unexpected events, and lack of PPE were risk factors for emergency stress, while resilience and coping strategies played a protective role. Mediation analysis shows that coping strategies and hardiness are protective factors and reduce the effect of stress on secondary trauma.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19: Risk Factors and Protective Role of Resilience and Coping Strategies for Emergency Stress and Secondary Trauma in Medical Staff and Emergency Workers—An Online-Based Inquiry

et al. 2020

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“…or some others, such as direct exposure to COVID-19, may act as risk or protective factors. With this regard, Babore et al (2020) found that female gender was a risk factor for that, but not the economic status, while Buselli et al (2020) reported that some symptoms were more prevalent in the frontline staff and healthcare assistants than in the second-line staff and physicians, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological Symptoms in Health Professionals in Spain After the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2020

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Following the declaration of the COVID-19 outbreak as a global pandemic in March 2020, a state of alarm was decreed in Spain. In this situation, healthcare workers experienced high levels of stress, anxiety and depression due to the heavy workload and working conditions. Although Spain experienced a progressive decline in the number of COVID-19 cases until the last week of May (when a flattening of the case curve was achieved) and the work overload among health workers was substantially reduced, several studies have shown that this work overload is associated with the later emergence of psychological symptoms induced by stress. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the levels of stress, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress and compassionate fatigue in health professionals. The sample consisted of 973 health professionals 16.5% men, 82.9% women, and one non-binary person. The data were collected through an online questionnaire sent to the participants by e-mail. DASS-21 was used to measure anxiety, stress and depression, PCL-C to measure post-traumatic stress and ProQOL -vIV to measure compassion fatigue. In addition, other descriptive variables that could be related to these levels of psychological symptomatology were evaluated. The results reveal that after the work overload experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers report psychological symptoms, post-traumatic stress and compassion fatigue. It is therefore recommended that these professionals be provided with psychological help in order to reduce the emotional impact of COVID-19, and consequently improve their mental health.

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“…Our data highlighted the presence of a sort of disruption in rhythmicity and vegetative functions, with statistically significantly higher rates in survivors with than in those without PTSD. Even if we have no follow-up data on the same cohort of subjects, we hypothesize that the PTSD symptomatology, emerged in our sample, had a chronic course, with a stability of symptoms over time, as shown by previous studies on similar samples in the aftermath of a catastrophic traumatic event (8,10,26,40,48,49). So, we may argue that alterations in rhythmicity and vegetative functions, specifically emerged in our research in the aftermath of the earthquake, were related to the PTSD symptomatology.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Disrupted Rhythmicity and Vegetative Functions Relate to PTSD and Gender in Earthquake Survivors

et al. 2020

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Background: Increasing evidence indicates that survivors to traumatic events may show disruption of sleep pattern, eating and sexual behaviors, and somatic symptoms suggestive of alterations of biorhythmicity and vegetative functions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate these possible alterations in a sample of survivors in the aftermath of earthquake exposure, with particular attention to gender differences and impact of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Methods: High school senior students, who had been exposed to the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, were enrolled 21 months after the traumatic event and evaluated by the Trauma and Loss Spectrum Self-Report to investigate PTSD rates and by a domain of the Mood Spectrum Self-Report–Lifetime Version (MOODS-SR), to explore alterations in circadian/seasonal rhythms and vegetative functions. Results: The rates of endorsement of MOODS-SR rhythmicity and vegetative functions domain and subdomain scores were significantly higher in survivors with PTSD with respect to those without it. Among all earthquake survivors, women reported higher scores than men on the rhythmicity and vegetative functions domain and subdomain scores, except for the rhythmicity and sexual functions ones. Female survivors without PTSD showed significantly higher scores than men in the rhythmicity and vegetative functions total scores and the sleep and weight and appetite subdomains. Potentially traumatic events burden predicted rhythmicity and vegetative functions impairment, with a moderation effect of re-experiencing symptoms. Conclusions: We report impairments in rhythmicity, sleep, eating, and sexual and somatic health in survivors to a massive earthquake, particularly among subjects with PTSD and higher re-experiencing symptoms, with specific gender-related differences. Evaluating symptoms of impaired rhythmicity and vegetative functions seems essential for a more accurate assessment and clinical management of survivors to a mass trauma.

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Professional Quality of Life and Mental Health Outcomes among Health Care Workers Exposed to Sars-Cov-2 (Covid-19)

Cited by 264 publications

References 41 publications

COVID-19: Risk Factors and Protective Role of Resilience and Coping Strategies for Emergency Stress and Secondary Trauma in Medical Staff and Emergency Workers—An Online-Based Inquiry

COVID-19: Risk Factors and Protective Role of Resilience and Coping Strategies for Emergency Stress and Secondary Trauma in Medical Staff and Emergency Workers—An Online-Based Inquiry

Psychological Symptoms in Health Professionals in Spain After the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Disrupted Rhythmicity and Vegetative Functions Relate to PTSD and Gender in Earthquake Survivors

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