De Pasquale Concetta, Conti Daniela, Dinaro Carmela, D'Antoni Rosa Alessia, La Delfa Elena, Di Nuovo Santo
Vascular Surgery and Organ Transplant Unit, University Hospital of Catania, Catania, Italy.
Department of Educational Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
Front Psychiatry. 2022 Apr 1;13:832843. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.832843. eCollection 2022.
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 ( = 107) and a control group ( = 107). The online assessment instrument used consisted of an anonymous questionnaire, assembled 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, = 14.60), but not at a level significantly higher than other categories of workers (mean = 25.75, = 14.65; = 0.20, = 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.
2020年3月开始的新冠疫情在短短几个月内已导致全球数十万人死亡，这让毫无准备应对这一全球现象的医护人员面临巨大风险。尤其是在早期阶段，医护人员不得不以牺牲自身身心健康为代价来应对疫情，这使他们特别容易患上创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）。本研究旨在分析与创伤后应激障碍相关的精神病理学方面，重点关注新冠疫情对医护人员造成的情感影响，并与一个对照组进行比较。在2021年3月至5月的两个月时间里进行分析的样本包括214名参与者，分为两组，即医护人员（n = 107）和一个对照组（n = 107）。所使用的在线评估工具包括一份匿名问卷，其中汇集了人口统计学信息和不同的标准化评估量表（例如，对新冠的恐惧量表、情绪状态剖面图和马氏职业倦怠量表-人类服务调查），而调查的另一部分使用《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》第5版标准来调查创伤后应激障碍（例如，新冠-创伤后应激障碍）。结果显示，医护人员有持续的压力感知（均值 = 26.18，标准差 = 14.60），但并不显著高于其他职业类别（均值 = 25.75，标准差 = 14.65；t = 0.20，p = 0.84）。然而，他们表现出的情绪困扰比对照组样本少，焦虑管理技能更好，抑郁症和精神错乱水平更低。具体而言，医护人员表现出情感耗竭的状况（T = 0.64，D = 0.74，A = 0.62，S = 0.75，C = 0.64）和去个性化（T = 0.41，D = 0.52，A = 0.49，S = 0.60，C = 0.40），这在职业倦怠综合征中很常见。总之，所获得的结果有助于理解医护职业情感投入的决定因素以及职业倦怠综合征的风险，因此，对于为这些在长期普遍危机（如疫情）期间特别面临风险的工作人员规划活动和支持途径很有帮助。
