Parnassia Groep, Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, The Hague, Netherlands.
Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Front Public Health. 2022 Jun 10;10:896843. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.896843. eCollection 2022.
Due to the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care systems, there has been great interest in the mental wellbeing of healthcare workers. While most studies investigated mental health outcomes among frontline vs. non-frontline healthcare workers, little is known about the impact of various work-related variables. The present study aimed to examine the association between work-related [i.e., having contact with COVID-19 patients, being redeployed due to the pandemic and availability of sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE)] and subjective (i.e., worries about getting infected or infecting others) exposures and self-reported mental health outcomes (i.e., psychological distress, depressive symptoms, and posttraumatic stress symptoms). Between February and May 2021, 994 healthcare workers employed at a variety of healthcare settings in the Netherlands filled out an online survey as part of the COVID-19 HEalth caRe wOrkErS (HEROES) study. Mental health outcomes were measured using the General Health Questionnaire-12, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5. Approximately 13% reported depressive symptoms, 37% experienced psychological distress, and 20% reported posttraumatic stress symptoms. Multilevel linear models consisted of three levels: individual (work-related and subjective exposures), healthcare center (aggregated redeployment and availability of sufficient PPE), and regional (cumulative COVID-19 infection and death rates). Worries about infection were associated with all three mental health outcomes, whereas insufficient PPE was associated with psychological distress and depressive symptoms. There were no differences in outcomes between healthcare centers or provinces with different COVID-19 infection and death rates. Our findings highlight the importance of adequate PPE provision and the subjective experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. These factors should be part of interventions aimed at mitigating adverse mental health outcomes among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
由于 COVID-19 大流行对医疗保健系统造成了前所未有的影响，人们对医疗保健工作者的心理健康非常关注。虽然大多数研究都调查了一线和非一线医护人员的心理健康结果，但对于各种与工作相关的变量的影响知之甚少。本研究旨在研究与工作相关（即与 COVID-19 患者接触、因大流行而被重新部署以及是否有足够的个人防护设备（PPE））和主观（即担心感染或感染他人）暴露与自我报告的心理健康结果（即心理困扰、抑郁症状和创伤后应激症状）之间的关联。在 2021 年 2 月至 5 月期间，荷兰各种医疗保健环境中工作的 994 名医疗保健工作者作为 COVID-19 医疗保健工作者健康研究（HEROES）的一部分，在线填写了一份调查问卷。使用一般健康问卷 12 项、患者健康问卷 9 项和 DSM-5 初级保健创伤后应激障碍筛查量表来衡量心理健康结果。约 13%的人报告有抑郁症状，37%的人经历心理困扰，20%的人报告有创伤后应激症状。多水平线性模型包括三个层次：个体（与工作相关和主观暴露）、医疗中心（聚集性重新部署和足够 PPE 的可用性）和区域（累积 COVID-19 感染率和死亡率）。对感染的担忧与所有三种心理健康结果都有关，而 PPE 不足与心理困扰和抑郁症状有关。在不同的 COVID-19 感染和死亡率的医疗中心或省份之间，结果没有差异。我们的研究结果强调了提供足够的 PPE 和 COVID-19 大流行的主观体验的重要性。这些因素应成为旨在减轻 COVID-19 大流行期间医疗保健工作者不良心理健康结果的干预措施的一部分。
