Corrêa Roberta Pires, Castro Helena Carla, Quaresma Bruna Maria Castro Salomão, Stephens Paulo Roberto Soares, Araujo-Jorge Tania Cremonini, Ferreira Roberto Rodrigues
Program in Education in Biosciences and Health, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Sciences, Technology and Inclusion, Federal Fluminense University, Niterói, Brazil.
JMIR Form Res. 2021 Oct 22;5(10):e28088. doi: 10.2196/28088.
The importance of health professionals has been recognized in COVID-19 pandemic-affected countries, especially in those such as Brazil, which is one of the top 3 countries that have been affected in the world. However, the workers' perception of the stress and the changes that the pandemic has caused in their lives vary according to the conditions offered by these affected countries, including salaries, individual protection equipment, and psychological support.
The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of Brazilian health workers regarding the COVID-19 pandemic impact on their lives, including possible self-contamination and mental health.
This cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted in Brazil by applying a 32-item questionnaire, including multiple-choice questions by using the Google Forms electronic assessment. This study was designed to capture spontaneous perceptions from health professionals. All questions were mandatory and divided into 2 blocks with different proposals: personal profile and COVID-19 pandemic impact.
We interviewed Brazilian health professionals from all 5 Brazilian regions (N=1376). Our study revealed that 1 in 5 (23%) complained about inadequate personal protective equipment, including face shields (234/1376, 17.0%), masks (206/1376, 14.9%), and laboratory coats (138/1376, 10.0%), whereas 1 in 4 health professionals did not have enough information to protect themselves from the coronavirus disease. These professionals had anxiety due to COVID-19 (604/1376, 43.9%), difficulties in sleep (593/1376, 43.1%), and concentrating on work (453/1376, 32.9%). Almost one-third experienced traumatic situations at work (385/1376, 28.0%), which may have led to negative feelings of fear of COVID-19 and sadness. Despite this situation, there was hope and empathy among their positive feelings. The survey also showed that 1 in 5 acquired COVID-19 with the most classic and minor symptoms, including headache (274/315, 87.0%), body pain (231/315, 73.3%), tiredness (228/315, 72.4%), and loss of taste and smell (208/315, 66.0%). Some of their negative feelings were higher than those of noninfected professionals (fear of COVID-19, 243/315, 77.1% vs 509/1061, 48.0%; impotence, 142/315, 45.1% vs 297/1061, 28.0%; and fault, 38/315, 12.1% vs 567/1061, 53.4%, respectively). Another worrying outcome was that 61.3% (193/315) reported acquiring an infection while working at a health facility and as expected, most of the respondents felt affected (344/1376, 25.0%) or very affected (619/1376, 45.0%) by the COVID-19.
In Brazil, the health professionals were exposed to a stressful situation and to the risk of self-contamination-conditions that can spell future psychological problems for these workers. Our survey findings showed that the psychological support for this group should be included in the future health planning of Brazil and of other hugely affected countries to assure a good mental health condition for the medical teams in the near future.
在受新冠疫情影响的国家，医护人员的重要性已得到认可，尤其是在像巴西这样全球受影响最严重的三个国家之一。然而，根据这些受影响国家提供的条件，包括薪资、个人防护装备和心理支持等，医护人员对压力以及疫情给他们生活带来的变化的感受各不相同。
本研究旨在了解巴西医护人员对新冠疫情对其生活影响的看法，包括可能的自我感染和心理健康状况。
本横断面网络调查在巴西开展，通过使用谷歌表单电子评估工具应用一份包含32个条目的问卷，其中包括多项选择题。本研究旨在获取医护人员的自发看法。所有问题均为必填项，分为两个不同主题的板块：个人资料和新冠疫情影响。
我们采访了来自巴西所有五个地区的医护人员（N = 1376）。我们的研究显示，五分之一（23%）的人抱怨个人防护装备不足，包括面罩（234/1376，17.0%）、口罩（206/1376，14.9%）和实验室工作服（138/1376，10.0%），而四分之一的医护人员没有足够信息来保护自己免受新冠病毒感染。这些医护人员因新冠疫情感到焦虑（604/1376，43.9%）、睡眠困难（593/1376，43.1%）以及难以集中精力工作（453/1376，32.9%）。近三分之一的人在工作中经历过创伤性事件（385/1376，28.0%），这可能导致了对新冠疫情的恐惧和悲伤等负面情绪。尽管如此，他们的积极情绪中仍有希望和同理心。调查还显示，五分之一的人感染了新冠病毒，出现了最典型和轻微的症状，包括头痛（274/315，87.0%）、身体疼痛（231/315，73.3%）、疲劳（228/315，72.4%）以及味觉和嗅觉丧失（208/315，66.0%）。他们的一些负面情绪高于未感染的医护人员（对新冠疫情的恐惧，243/315，77.1% 对 509/1061，48.0%；无助感，142/315，45.1% 对 297/1061，28.0%；以及自责，38/315，12.1% 对 567/1061，53.4%）。另一个令人担忧的结果是，61.3%（193/315）的人报告在医疗机构工作时感染了新冠病毒，正如预期的那样，大多数受访者感到受到新冠疫情的影响（344/1376，25.0%）或受到极大影响（619/1376，45.0%）。
在巴西，医护人员面临着压力状况以及自我感染的风险，这些状况可能给这些工作人员带来未来的心理问题。我们的调查结果表明，巴西以及其他受影响严重的国家在未来的卫生规划中应纳入对这一群体的心理支持，以确保在不久的将来医疗团队拥有良好的心理健康状况。
