Psychological Distress, Fear of COVID-19, and Resilient Coping Abilities among Healthcare Workers in a Tertiary First-Line Hospital during the Coronavirus Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing a heavy burden in hospital healthcare workers (HCW) in terms of increased work, organizational changes, risk exposure, and social stigma. The present study aims at evaluating the psychological outcome among HCWs at the final stages of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional and survey-based study was conducted during June 2020 among 996 HCWs of the University Hospital of Padova. All the subjects completed questionnaires investigating the perception of risk of infecting or being infected by COVID-19, psychopathological variables, and coping abilities. Compared to physicians and healthcare assistants, nurses showed higher levels of depression (p = 0.002), insomnia (p < 0.001), and generalized anxiety (p = 0.001). Females reported increased concerns about the possibility of infecting others (p = 0.046), greater anxiety (p < 0.001), COVID-19 related fears (p < 0.001), depression (p < 0.001), and post-traumatic distress (p < 0.001) than males. Being employed in a COVID-19 unit, being transferred to other units, and living with children and the elderly were factors associated with higher levels of psychological distress. Greater coping abilities were detected in physicians, and in those HCWs employed in COVID units. Our findings evidenced that the psychological consequences of the pandemic were non-homogeneously distributed across HCWs categories and pointed out the presence of specific in-hospital and out-of-hospital risk factors.

Motivation to COVID-19 Vaccination and Reasons for Hesitancy in Employees of a Czech Tertiary Care Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Survey

“…Szmyd et al found a statistically significantly higher assessment of fear among physicians compared to administrative healthcare assistants [ 16 ]. In contrast, significantly lower fear levels in physicians among other HCWs were detected in cross-sectional surveys by Prazeres et al ( n = 222) and Collantoni et al ( n = 996), using the Fear of COVID-19 scale [ 17 , 18 ]. There were no statistically significant differences in the fear levels depending on job types in our study.…”

Impacts of Digital Healthy Diet Literacy and Healthy Eating Behavior on Fear of COVID-19, Changes in Mental Health, and Health-Related Quality of Life among Front-Line Health Care Workers

“…A previous study has reported that female HCWs are more vulnerable to mental health problems than males [ 42 ]. Male HCWs reported a lower fear of COVID-19 than females [ 43 ].…”

Psychological Distress and Work Environment Perception by Physical Therapists from Southern Italy during COVID-19 Pandemic: The C.A.L.A.B.R.I.A Study

“…As a whole, learning of new protocols and procedures at work, dealing with an exceedingly large number of patients and sustaining long shifts with protective equipment along with the fear of getting infected, has led healthcare workers to perceive a lower quality work environment relationships with colleagues [ 18 ]. This has often resulted in developing emotional and behavioral symptoms such as excessive worries, mood swings, sleep difficulties and eating disorders [ 19 , 20 ].…”