Al Ozairi Abdullah, Alsaeed Dalal, Al-Ozairi Ebaa, Irshad Mohammad, Crane Rebecca S, Almoula Aroub
Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
Amiri Hospital, Ministry of Health, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
Front Psychiatry. 2023 Jan 9;13:1089147. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1089147. eCollection 2022.
The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) created unprecedented stress on physicians. Mindfulness is a type of meditation that focuses on being fully present, aware of senses, and emotions in the present moment without analyzing or judging them, and it may help reduce psychological distress in physicians. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of virtual mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) on physicians' perceived anxiety and depression and different facets of mindfulness.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, an online survey was administered to physicians to assess depression, anxiety, and awareness using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), 7-item General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), and Five-Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), respectively. Physicians that received the virtual MBI sessions also completed post-questionnaires at a 3-week follow-up time point.
A total of 125 physicians responded to the online survey, with 56 completing the MBI. The prevalence of moderate to severe anxiety and depression was 45.0 and 46.7%, respectively. Mindfulness scores were negatively associated with depression ( = -0.38, < 0.001) and anxiety ( = -0.36, < 0.001). Mindfulness scores for the 56 physicians who received virtual MBI sessions were significantly improved (mean difference ± SD, 17.7 ± 16.1, = 0.001). Significant reductions were also evidenced in anxiety (4.4 ± 4.2) and depression (4.5 ± 5.1) scores ('s < 0.001). There was also an improvement in mindfulness facets of observing (5.1 ± 4.7), describing (2.3 ± 4.3), acting with awareness (2.7 ± 5.3), non-judging of inner experience (3.6 ± 6.1), and non-reactivity to inner experience (3.9 ± 4.0) ('s < 0.001). A facet of mindfulness, acting with awareness was most efficiently associated with improved anxiety ( = -0.3, = 0.02) and depression ( = -0.4, = 0.01).
This study has demonstrated that virtual MBI improved physicians' psychological wellbeing and mindfulness during the crisis. Regular mindfulness practice may help physicians to tolerate and handle unpleasant circumstances, such as future epidemics or pandemics.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的爆发给医生带来了前所未有的压力。正念是一种冥想方式，专注于全然处在当下、感知当下的感官和情绪，而不对其进行分析或评判，它可能有助于减轻医生的心理困扰。本研究旨在探讨基于虚拟正念的干预措施（MBI）对医生感知到的焦虑和抑郁以及正念不同维度的效果。
在COVID-19大流行期间，对医生进行了一项在线调查，分别使用9项患者健康问卷（PHQ-9）、7项广泛性焦虑障碍量表（GAD-7）和五维度正念问卷（FFMQ）来评估抑郁、焦虑和正念水平。接受虚拟MBI课程的医生还在3周的随访时间点完成了后续问卷。
共有125名医生回复了在线调查，其中56名完成了MBI。中度至重度焦虑和抑郁的患病率分别为45.0%和46.7%。正念得分与抑郁（r = -0.38，P < 0.001）和焦虑（r = -0.36，P < 0.001）呈负相关。接受虚拟MBI课程的56名医生的正念得分有显著提高（平均差异±标准差，17.7±16.1，P = 0.001）。焦虑（4.4±4.2）和抑郁（4.5±5.1）得分也有显著降低（P < 0.001）。正念的观察（5.1±4.7）、描述（2.3±4.3）、有意识行动（2.7±5.3）、对内心体验不评判（3.6±6.1）和对内心体验不反应（3.9±4.0）维度也有改善（P < 0.001）。正念的一个维度，即有意识行动，与焦虑改善（r = -0.3，P = 0.02）和抑郁改善（r = -0.4，P = 0.01）的关联最为显著。
本研究表明，虚拟MBI在危机期间改善了医生的心理健康和正念水平。定期进行正念练习可能有助于医生耐受和应对不愉快的情况，如未来的流行病或大流行。
