The mental health of healthcare workers in the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review

Abstract

Purpose The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is widely spreading all over the world, causing mental health problems for most people. The medical staff is also under considerable psychological pressure. This study aimed to review all research carried out on the mental health status of health care workers (HCWs) to bring policymakers and managers' attention. Methods A literature search conducted through e-databases, including PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science (WoS) from December 2019 up to April 12th 2020. All cross-sectional studies published in English which assessed the health workers' psychological well-being during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic included. Study quality was analyzed using NHLBI Study Quality assessment tools. Results One hundred relevant articles were identified through systematic search; of which eleven studies were eligible for this review. Their quality score was acceptable. The lowest reported prevalence of anxiety, depression, and stress among HCWs was 24.1%, 12.1%, and 29.8%, respectively. In addition, the highest reported values for the aforementioned parameters were 67.55%, 55.89%, and 62.99%, respectively. Nurses, female workers, front-line health care workers, younger medical staff, and workers in areas with higher infection rates reported more severe degrees of all psychological symptoms than other health care workers. Moreover, vicarious traumatization in non-front-line nurses and the general public was higher than that of the front-line nurses. Conclusion During SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, the health care workers face aggravated psychological pressure and even mental illness. It would be recommended to the policymakers and managers to adopt the supportive, encouragement & motivational, protective, and training & educational interventions, especially through information and communication platform.

Symptoms related to mental disorder in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil

“…Sethi et al (2020), in a qualitative study with Pakistani healthcare workers (physicians: n = 237 and dentists: n = 35), Shechter et al (2020), in a New York hospital study (nurse: n = 313 and physicians: n = 344), and Salazar de Pablo (2020), in a systematic review reported an impact of the pandemic on mental (insomnia, psychological distress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms), physical (cough, fatigue, fever, headaches, and sore throat), social health, and well-being. Similar findings were also reported in other systematic reviews that include studies from China, Singapore, Italy, Iran, and Spain (Luo et al 2020;Muller et al 2020;Pappa et al 2020;Vizheh et al 2020). However, as far as we know, there are no data related to psychological symptoms from the pandemic in Brazilian healthcare workers that can be compared with the findings of the present study.…”

“…In July 2020, when the drafting of this text began, there were only five studies reporting data related to the subject: one from Spain (Santamaría et al 2020 ), one from Pakistan (Sethi et al 2020 ), two from China (Lai 2020 ; Zhang et al 2020 ), and one with dentists from the Middle East (Ahmed et al 2020 ). After a review in December 2020, a higher number of studies were found, including five systematic reviews (Luo et al 2020 ; Muller et al 2020 ; Pappa et al 2020 ; Salazar de Pablo et al 2020 ; Vizheh et al 2020 ) that indicate high risk for mental problems of such workers, especially sleep disorders, depression, anxiety, stress, and overall psychological impact due to the pandemic. The studies that compared different work categories (Lai 2020 ; Luo et al 2020 ; Pappa et al 2020 ; Shechter et al 2020 ; Vizheh et al 2020 ) found that nurses had more symptoms than physicians.…”

SARS-CoV-2 mediated neuroinflammation and the impact of COVID-19 in neurological disorders

“…As a secondary consequence, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has instigated a mental health crisis among the world’s population. Indeed, numerous reports have described high prevalence (condition-dependent ranges of 12% – 67.5%) of anxiety and depressive symptoms as well as insomnia and the presence of emotional trauma among clinical care providers and essential workers [ [170] , [171] , [172] ]). Among the general population, the social isolation, uncertainty and low locus of control induced by global lockdowns is a very likely explanation for the observed up-tick in patients seeking mental health treatment and presenting with mood dysregulation.…”

Work-Related Challenges among Primary Health Centers Workers during COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia

“…Previous national and international studies, however, have shown high levels of stress among HCWs, whether in regular conditions or during the COVID-19 pandemic [6,[11][12][13][14][15]. For example, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has been identified in 2012 in many countries worldwide and most cases were diagnosed in Saudi Arabia [16].…”