Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA 30144, USA.
Nursing Practice and Operations, Wellstar Health System, Atlanta, GA 30339, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Apr 29;19(9):5420. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19095420.
The COVID-19 outbreak is significantly affecting the mental health of healthcare workers worldwide. This study aims to investigate the mental health outcomes of healthcare workers in a health system located in southeastern US during the first peak of the pandemic and examine the association of specific factors on the mental well-being of healthcare workers. A cross-sectional survey of 388 healthcare workers was conducted. Data were collected using a 79-item questionnaire, which included the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) instrument, the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) instrument, and the 22-item Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), to assess symptoms of depression, anxiety, and general distress, respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate statistics. Accordingly, 30.1%, 28.7%, and 39.4% of respondents reported depression, anxiety, and distress symptoms, respectively. Younger workers and females reported higher mental symptomologies. We identified significant, nontraditional factors associated with depression and anxiety symptoms among healthcare workers: healthcare procedure change, concern of exposing family to COVID-19, number of missed shifts, and access to psychological resources/services. These findings emphasize the importance of providing the proper training to reduce concerns of exposing family members and psychological interventions to promote mental health well-being for healthcare workers during the stressful COVID-19 pandemic.
新冠疫情大流行显著影响全球医护人员的心理健康。本研究旨在调查美国东南部某卫生系统中处于疫情第一波高峰期的医护人员的心理健康结果，并探讨特定因素对医护人员心理健康的影响。采用横断面调查方法，对 388 名医护人员进行调查。使用包含 PHQ-9 量表、GAD-7 量表和 IES-R 量表的 79 项问卷收集数据，以分别评估抑郁、焦虑和一般困扰症状。采用描述性、双变量和多变量统计方法进行数据分析。结果显示，分别有 30.1%、28.7%和 39.4%的受访者报告存在抑郁、焦虑和困扰症状。年轻和女性医护人员报告的精神症状更多。我们发现了与医护人员抑郁和焦虑症状相关的重要、非传统因素：医疗程序改变、担心家人感染 COVID-19、错过轮班次数和获得心理资源/服务的机会。这些发现强调了在 COVID-19 大流行这一紧张时期，为医护人员提供减少对家庭成员感染的担忧的适当培训和心理干预以促进其心理健康的重要性。
