Department of Obstetrics and Pediatrics, AUSL-IRCCS, 42123 Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Department of Psychology "Renzo Canestrari", University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 May 12;19(10):5899. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19105899.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global healthcare workers' (HCWs) mental health has been well documented in the last two years; however, little is known regarding HCWs working in specific healthcare fields. During two subsequent periods of national lockdown in Italy (June-July 2020, T1, and November-December 2020, T2), a total sample of 47 HCWs working in a reproductive medicine hospital unit completed an ad hoc questionnaire for assessing emotional reactions to the pandemic, stress symptoms, and ways of coping. Moderate-high levels of anger and sadness were experienced by 65.9% and 68.1% of the HCWs, respectively, while moderate-high levels of anxiety and fear were experienced by 51.1% and 56.8%, respectively. Higher stress symptoms experienced by HCWs were hypervigilance, avoidance of thoughts and memories, and tiredness/low energy. At T2, levels of hypervigilance, irritability, intrusive thoughts, and detachment were higher than at T1, while avoidance of external triggers decreased. Moderate-high levels of anxiety resulted significantly associated with several symptoms of stress: irritability/fearfulness, depression/hopelessness, tiredness/low energy, problems with concentration, and intrusive thoughts. Regarding coping strategies, HCWs tended to adopt more problem-focused coping (e.g., contributing to improving a situation) and this tendency was higher at T2. Overall findings suggest a risk for the persistence of stress symptoms and, therefore, a risk for a chronic course, which might interfere with the global quality of mental health at work and the care provided to patients. Clinical implications highlight the relevance of implementing support programs for this category of HCWs focused on the elaboration of negative emotions and on fostering adaptive coping strategies.
在过去的两年中，COVID-19 大流行对全球医护人员（HCWs）心理健康的影响已得到充分记录；然而，对于在特定医疗保健领域工作的 HCWs 知之甚少。在意大利随后的两次全国封锁期间（2020 年 6 月至 7 月，T1，和 2020 年 11 月至 12 月，T2），一家生殖医学医院的 47 名 HCWs 完成了一份专门的问卷，以评估他们对大流行的情绪反应、压力症状和应对方式。分别有 65.9%和 68.1%的 HCWs 经历了中度高度的愤怒和悲伤，而 51.1%和 56.8%的 HCWs 经历了中度高度的焦虑和恐惧。HCWs 经历的较高压力症状是过度警觉、避免思考和记忆以及疲倦/低能量。在 T2 时，过度警觉、易怒、侵入性思维和疏远的程度高于 T1，而对外界触发因素的回避则减少。中度高度的焦虑与压力的几个症状显著相关：易怒/恐惧、抑郁/绝望、疲倦/低能量、注意力集中问题和侵入性思维。关于应对策略，HCWs 倾向于采用更多的问题解决型应对方式（例如，为改善情况做出贡献），并且这种趋势在 T2 时更高。总体研究结果表明存在压力症状持续存在的风险，因此存在慢性病程的风险，这可能会干扰工作中的全球心理健康质量和为患者提供的护理。临床意义突出了为这一类 HCWs 实施支持计划的重要性，这些计划侧重于对负面情绪的精心处理和培养适应性应对策略。
