The COVID-19 Pandemic and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Emotional Impact on Healthcare Professions

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, which began in March 2020, has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people around the world in just a few months, putting at great risk the commitment of healthcare workers unprepared to manage a worldwide phenomenon at great risk. In the early stages especially, medical staff had to deal with the pandemic at the expense of their physical and mental health, putting them particularly at risk for experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study aims to analyze the psychopathological aspects associated with PTSD, focusing on the emotional impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare professionals compared with a control group. The sample analyzed over 2 months, from March to May 2021, included 214 participants into two groups, i.e., healthcare professionals (N = 107) and a control group (N = 107). The online assessment instrument used consisted of an anonymous questionnaire, assembled ad hoc with demographic information and different standardized assessment scales (e.g., Fear of COVID-19 scale, Profile of Mood States, and Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey), while a further section of the survey used the DSM-5 criteria to investigate Posttraumatic stress disorder (e.g., COVID-19—PTSD). The results reported that healthcare professionals had a consistent perception of stress (mean = 26.18, SD = 14.60), but not at a level significantly higher than other categories of workers (mean = 25.75, SD = 14.65; t = 0.20, p = 0.84). However, they showed less emotional disturbance than the control sample, better anxiety management skills, and lower levels of depressive disorder and mental confusion. Specifically, the healthcare professionals showed a condition of emotional exhaustion (T = 0.64, D = 0.74, A = 0.62, S = 0.75, C = 0.64) and depersonalization (T = 0.41, D = 0.52, A = 0.49, S = 0.60, C = 0.40), which is common in the burnout syndrome. In conclusion, the results obtained are useful in understanding the determinants of the emotional involvement of healthcare professions and the risk of burnout syndrome and, therefore, for planning activities and support paths for these workers who are particularly at risk during prolonged and pervasive crises, such as the pandemic.

The Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Frontline Healthcare Workers : A Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis

“…Nurses (Collantoni et al, 2021;Rossi et al, 2020) and HCWS who were redeployed to different settings (Collantoni et al, 2021) independently reported significantly higher insomnia symptoms than other HCWs. Overall, HCWs have significantly lower emotional disturbances compared to the general population (De Pasquale et al, 2022).…”

“…Excessive workload was associated with psychological symptoms (Aisa et al, 2022). With limited personal protective equipment and COVID information, healthcare workers often did not eat, drink, or relieve them- selves during shifts while simultaneously working long shifts in high temperatures and negative pressure environments, and thus became mentally and physically exhausted (Aisa et al, 2022;Büntzel et al, 2021;De Pasquale et al, 2022;Erquicia et al, 2020;Gorini et al, 2020;Hummel et al, 2021;Morawa et al, 2021;Sharif et al, 2022;van Hout et al, 2022;Vindrola-Padros et al, 2020). All these factors increased the risk of psychological distress for healthcare workers.…”

“…This systematic review includes 22 cross-sectional studies with a total of 32,690 participants (Table 1). Out of all the cross-sectional studies, six studies were undertaken in Italy (Babore et al, 2020;Collantoni et al, 2021;Davico et al, 2021;De Pasquale et al, 2022;Gorini et al, 2020;Rossi et al, 2020), three in Spain (Erquicia et al, 2020;Goberna-Tricas et al, 2021;Mortier et al, 2021), three in Germany (Büntzel et al, 2021;Morawa et al, 2021;Skoda et al, 2020), one in Romania (Man et al, 2020), one in the United Kingdom and Poland (Denning et al, 2021), one in France (Abdessater et al, 2020), one in Serbia (Antonijevic et al, 2020), one in the United Kingdom (Vindrola-Padros et al, 2020), and five in a combination of European countries (Aisa et al, 2022;Failla et al, 2021;Hummel et al, 2021;Sharif et al, 2022;van Hout et al, 2022).…”

Prevalence of Burnout in Healthcare Workers of Tertiary-Care Hospitals during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey from Two Central European Countries

“…Being exposed to COVID-19 cases in hospitals, being quarantined, and experiencing huge performance pressure accompanied by a sudden surge of overwork, as well as frustration from failure to give optimal patient care, all negatively impact the mental well-being of HCWs. As the world headed into other years of the pandemic, these stressors became persistent and indefinite, heightening HCWs’ risk of burnout [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ].…”

High Prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Psychological Distress Among Healthcare Workers in COVID-19 Field Hospitals: A Cross-Sectional Study from Vietnam

“…Of notes, fear of COVID-19 is not only a factor associated with PTSD but also other psychological disturbances. 34 , 43 Understanding the psychological impact of having to deal with COVID-19, policymakers and health authorities need to develop targeted interventions such as developing explicit and up-to-date infection control standards and protocols, providing adequate supplies and training on personal protective equipment, and developing innovative solutions to mental care for HCWs.…”