The Impact of Violence on the Anxiety Levels of Healthcare Personnel During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic stressed the importance of healthcare personnel. However, there is evidence of an increase in violence against them, which brings consequences, such as anxiety. The aim of this study was to analyze the anxiety levels of health professionals who have or not suffered violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, and verify the variables associated with the risk of starting to take medication for anxiety.Methods: We assessed the anxiety profile of health professionals in Brazil through an online questionnaire, using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item Scale (GAD-7), in relation to groups of participants who have or not suffered violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. We used Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient to check the consistency of the responses, and the effect size using the r coefficient. Principal Component Analysis was used to verify the differences in anxiety scores between the two groups. Logistic regression analysis was also used to verify the variables associated with the risk of starting medication for anxiety and considered statistically significant when p < 0.05.Results: A total of 1,166 health professionals participated in the study, in which 34.13% had a normal anxiety profile, 40.14% mild, 15.78% moderate, and 9.95% severe. The mean score of the sum of the GAD-7 was 7.03 (SD 5.20). The group that suffered violence had a higher mean (8.40; SD 5.42) compared to the group that did not (5.70; SD 4.60). In addition, the median between both groups was significantly different (7.0 vs. 5.0; p < 0.01). Approximately 18.70% of the participants reported having started taking medication to treat anxiety during the pandemic. The factors that increased the chances of these professionals starting medication for anxiety p < 0.05 were having suffered violence during the pandemic (OR 1.97; 95% CI 1.42–2.77), being nurses (OR 1.61; 95% CI 1.04–2.47) or other types of health professionals (OR 1.58; 95% CI 1.04–2.38), and having a mild (OR 2.11; 95% CI 1.37–3.34), moderate (OR 4.05; 95% CI 2.48–6.71) or severe (OR 9.08; 95% CI 5.39–15.6) anxiety level.Conclusion: Brazilian healthcare professionals who have suffered violence during the pandemic have higher anxiety scores and higher risk to start taking anxiety medication.

Prevalence of psychological and mental health symptoms among nursing professionals during the COVID‐19 pandemic in the Americas: Systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…In the analysis of the abstracts, 202 studies were excluded, leaving 57 studies in the sample. In addition, another six articles retrieved from the references of the studies included were added for analysis, totaling a sample of 62 articles (Appel et al., 2021; Arnetz et al., 2020; Bitencourt et al., 2021; Blanchard et al., 2022; Brown et al., 2023; Burstyn & Holt, 2022; Chapa‐Koloffon et al., 2021; Cohen et al., 2022; Côté et al., 2022; Crowe et al., 2022; Cruz et al., 2021; Cuccia et al., 2022; Dal'Bosco et al., 2020; De las Salas et al., 2021; Drager et al., 2022; El Gindi et al., 2022; Estes et al., 2021; Feingold et al., 2021; Freitas et al., 2021; Freitas et al., 2022; Guillen‐Burgos, Gomez‐Ureche, Acosta, et al., 2022; Guillen‐Burgos, Gomez‐Ureche, Renowitzky, et al., 2022; Gutierrez et al., 2022; Guttormson et al., 2022; Havaei, Ma, et al., 2021; Havaei, Smith, et al., 2021; Hendrickson et al., 2022; Hernandez et al., 2021; Hickling & Barnett, 2022; Ingle, 2021; Kim et al., 2021; Kovner et al., 2021; Machado et al., 2022; Magalhães et al., 2021; Martínez et al., 2020; Martínez‐Ponce et al., 2023; Melnyk et al., 2022; Mensinger et al., 2022; Merkle et al., 2022; Montoya et al., 2021; Obando et al., 2020; Oliveira et al., 2022; Pazmiño et al., 2021; Pico et al., 2021; Prasad et al., 2020; Prasad et al., 2021; Real‐Ramírez et al., 2020; Robba et al., 2022; Robles et al., 2020; Rodriguez et al., 2021; Ruiz et al., 2021; Sagherian et al.,…”

The impact of violence on healthcare workers' mental health in conflict based settings amidst COVID‐19 pandemic, and potential interventions: A narrative review

“…These harsh challenges have drastically affected the mental health on HCWs all over the world to the limit of exhaustion, burnout, stress and overwhelmedness. Bitencourt et al states that HCWs exposed to violence during COVID‐19 have scored higher (statistically significant) in the Generalized Anxiety Disorder‐Grade 7 (GAD‐7) scale compared to those who have not experienced violence in workplace 20 …”

“…Bitencourt et al states that HCWs exposed to violence during COVID-19 have scored higher (statistically significant) in the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-Grade 7 (GAD-7) scale compared to those who have not experienced violence in workplace. 20…”

RANZCP Abstracts

“…Background: Increased levels of aggression have been observed in various studies during the COVID-19 pandemic (Bitencourt et al, 2021;Garcia-Zamora et al, 2022;Killgore et al, 2021). Aggression de-escalation training has been shown to increase individual confidence in dealing with aggression as well as to reduce the frequency of aggression (Abozaid et al, 2022;Celofiga et al, 2022;Ye et al, 2021).…”