scholarly journals Psychological Differences Among Healthcare Workers of a Rehabilitation Institute During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Two-Step Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Panzeri ◽  
Silvia Rossi Ferrario ◽  
Paola Cerutti
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Qualitative Evaluation ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Psychological Reactions

Introduction: Healthcare workers facing the threatening COVID-19 can experience severe difficulties. Despite the need to evaluate both the psychological distress and positive protective resources, brief and reliable assessment tools are lacking.Aim: Study 1 aimed at developing a new assessment tool to measure psychological distress and esteem in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study 2 aimed to explore and compare the psychological reactions of healthcare workers of the COVID-19 and the non-COVID-19 wards.Methods: In Study 1, psychologists created 25 items based on their clinical experience. A preliminary qualitative evaluation selected the best 15 items for the new tool (CPI-HP) assessing the COVID-19 psychological impact with 2 scales: psychological distress and esteem. The CPI-HP was administered to 110 healthcare professionals to study its psychometric properties and the internal structure with exploratory graph analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Study 2 compared two groups of healthcare professionals of the COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 departments.Results: In Study 1, the CPI-HP showed satisfying psychometric properties, and the two-factor structure was confirmed with good fit indices. In Study 2, the two groups of healthcare workers showed comparable levels of psychological distress and resilient coping, but the COVID-19 group displayed significantly higher esteem and appreciation of the experience.Discussion: All operators showed high psychological distress during the emergency, but the COVID-19 group reported higher resources, probably due to stronger group cohesion and greater esteem, perceived meaning, and own work value.Conclusion: Assessing the psychological distress and resources of healthcare professionals with specific tools is important. Psychological interventions should promote their psychological health.

scholarly journals Sense of Coherence and Psychological Distress Among Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 6855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Gómez-Salgado ◽  
Sara Domínguez-Salas ◽  
Macarena Romero-Martín ◽  
Mónica Ortega-Moreno ◽  
Juan Jesús García-Iglesias ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Sense Of Coherence ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Test Analysis ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Bonferroni Test

The health crisis triggered by COVID-19 and the preventive measures taken to control it have caused a strong psychological impact on the population, especially on healthcare professionals. Risk exposure, uncertainty about how to approach the disease, care and emotional overburden, lack of resources, or unclear ever-changing protocols are, among others, psychological distress risk factors for the healthcare professionals who have faced this dramatic scenario on the front line. On the other hand, the Sense of Coherence (SOC) is a competence that could help these professionals perceive the situation as understandable, manageable, and meaningful, facilitating the activation of their resilience. This work aims to describe the levels of psychological distress and SOC of healthcare professionals during the crisis caused by COVID-19, the relationship between both variables, and their health status. A cross-sectional descriptive study with a sample of 1459 currently active healthcare workers was developed. GHQ-12 and SOC-13 were used for data collection. Bivariate analyses were performed, including Chi-Squared Test, Student’s T-Test, Analysis of Variance—ANOVA (with Bonferroni test for multiple comparisons), and correlations. Cohen’s d or Cramer’s V effect size measurements were also provided. The results showed that 80.6% of healthcare professionals had psychological distress, and the mean score on the SOC-13 scale was 62.8 points (SD = 12.02). Both psychological distress and SOC were related to the presence of COVID-19 symptoms, as well as with contact history. Professionals with psychological distress showed a lower SOC. Taking care of the mental health of healthcare professionals is essential to effectively cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the psychological impact of working in the current menacing scenario, people on the front line against the disease should be protected, minimizing risks, providing them with resources and support, and fostering their coping skills.

Investigating Psychological Differences between Nurses and Other Healthcare Workers from Asia-Pacific Region during the Early Phase of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Machine Learning Approach (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
YanHong Dong ◽  
Mei Chun Yeo ◽  
Mei Chun Yeo ◽  
Rivan Danuaji ◽  
Thang H Nguyen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Asia Pacific Region ◽  
Psychological Outcome ◽  
Psychological Differences ◽  
Medical Healthcare

BACKGROUND As the pandemic evolves, frontline work challenges continue to impose significant psychological impact on nurses. However, there is a lack of data how nurses fared compared to other healthcare workers in Asia-Pacific region. OBJECTIVE This study aims to investigate 1) psychological differences between nurses, doctor and non-medical healthcare workers, and 2) psychological outcome characteristics of nurses from different Asia-Pacific countries. METHODS Decision-tree type machine learning models (LIghtGBM, Gradientboost, and RandomForest) were adopted to predict psychological impact on nurses. The SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) values of these models were extracted to identify the distinctive psychological distress characteristic. RESULTS Nurses had relatively higher percentages of normal or no-change in psychological distress symptoms relative to other healthcare workers (86.3% - 96.8% vs 80.7% - 92.3%). Among those without psychological symptoms, nurses constituted a higher proportion than doctors and non-medical healthcare workers (40.8%, 25.8%, and 33.4%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS Different contexts, cultures, and points in pandemic curve may have contributed to differing patterns of psychological outcomes amongst nurses in various Asia-Pacific countries. It is important that all healthcare workers practise self-care and render peer support to bolster psychological resilience for effective coping. CLINICALTRIAL Not applicable

scholarly journals Investigation on the Loss of Taste and Smell and Consequent Psychological Effects: A Cross-Sectional Study on Healthcare Workers Who Contracted the COVID-19 Infection

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa Dudine ◽  
Claudia Canaletti ◽  
Fabiola Giudici ◽  
Alberta Lunardelli ◽  
Giulia Abram ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Semistructured Interview ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Olfactory Loss ◽  
Taste And Smell

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between psychological distress and taste and sense of smell dysfunctions on healthcare workers (HCW) who contracted the COVID-19 infection in the midst of the disease outbreak. Reports of sudden loss of taste and smell which persist even after recovery from COVID-19 infection are increasingly recognized as critical symptoms for COVID-19 infections. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study on COVID-19 HCW (N = 104) who adhered to respond to a phone semistructured interview addressing the virus symptoms and associated psychological distress. Data were collected from June to September 2020. Findings confirm the association between experienced taste/olfactory loss and emotional distress and suggest that dysfunctions of taste and smell correlate positively with anxiety and depression. Furthermore, their psychological impact tends to persist even after the recovery from the disease, suggesting the need for appropriate psychological interventions to prevent people from developing more serious or long-lasting psychological disorders and, as far as HCW, to reduce the risk of work-related distress.

scholarly journals Benefits of Expressive Writing on Healthcare Workers’ Psychological Adjustment During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rossella Procaccia ◽  
Giulia Segre ◽  
Giancarlo Tamanza ◽  
Gian Mauro Manzoni
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Marital Status ◽  
Psychological Adjustment ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Expressive Writing ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Baseline Values

COVID-19 outbroke in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and promptly became a pandemic worldwide, endangering health and life but also causing mild-to-severe psychological distress to lots of people, including healthcare workers (HCWs). Several studies have already showed a high prevalence of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic symptoms in HCWs but less is known about the efficacy of psychological interventions for relieving their mental distress. The aims of this study were: (1) to evaluate the psychological adjustment of Italian HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) to investigate the efficacy of an expressive writing (EW) intervention, based on Pennebaker’s paradigmatic protocol, on their psychological adjustment; (3) to analyze if outcomes of EW vary in function of individual differences (age, gender, marital status, and baseline values of symptoms). Fifty-five HCWs were randomly assigned to one of two writing conditions: EW (n = 30) or neutral writing (NW; n = 25). Psychological adjustment (in terms of ptsd, depression and global psychopathology’s symptoms, perceived social support, and resilience) was assessed before and after three writing sessions. Participants who received the EW intervention showed higher improvements in ptsd, depression, and global psychopathology symptoms. Improvements in EW group varied in function of age, gender, marital status, and baseline values: young, men, married participants and those who had higher baseline scores showed a higher reduction of psychological distress symptoms while women, single and those who had lower baseline value showed increased social support, and resilience. In conclusion, the EW intervention had positive effects which varied in function of individual differences on HCWs’ psychological health.

scholarly journals Psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on paediatric healthcare workers

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela HP Kirk ◽  
Shu-Ling Chong ◽  
Kai-Qian Kam ◽  
Weili Huang ◽  
Linda SL Ang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Risk Factors ◽  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Psychological Intervention ◽  
National Level ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Psychological Outcome

Introduction: Frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) exposed to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are at risk of psychological distress. This study evaluates the psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on HCWs in a national paediatric referral centre. Methods: This was a survey-based study that collected demographic, work environment and mental health data from paediatric HCWs in the emergency, intensive care and infectious disease units. Psychological impact was measured using the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale-21. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors associated with psychological distress. Results: The survey achieved a response rate of 93.9% (430 of 458). Of the 430 respondents, symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress were reported in 168 (39.1%), 205 (47.7%) and 106 (24.7%), respectively. Depression was reported in the mild (47, 10.9%), moderate (76, 17.7%), severe (23, 5.3%) and extremely severe (22, 5.1%) categories. Anxiety (205, 47.7%) and stress (106, 24.7%) were reported in the mild category only. Collectively, regression analysis identified female sex, a perceived lack of choice in work scope/environment, lack of protection from COVID-19, lack of access to physical activities and rest, the need to perform additional tasks, and the experience of stigma from the community as risk factors for poor psychological outcome. Conclusion: A high prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress was reported among frontline paediatric HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Personal psychoneuroimmunity and organisational prevention measures can be implemented to lessen psychiatric symptoms. At the national level, involving mental health professionals to plan and coordinate psychological intervention for the country should be considered.

scholarly journals Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Mental Health of Healthcare Workers in India: A Questionnaire Based Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayaskant Sahoo ◽  
Swikruti Behera
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Mental Health Crisis ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Self Reporting Questionnaire

Introduction: Healthcare workers across the globe are working tirelessly to keep the severity under control. The long working hours wearing PPE, the self-quarantine periods, staying away from family, and various other factors does influence the mental wellbeing of an individual. In a country like India mental health is still a poorly recognised issue even among healthcare professionals. Objectives: To assess the stress, anxiety and depression among healthcare professionals at the time of Coronavirus pandemic and estimating the same in Anaesthesiology Cohort.Material & Methods: The study was conducted using a self-reporting questionnaire. The questionnaire was made using Google forms and the link for participation was sent using various digital mediums e.g., email, WhatsApp, Facebook. The questionnaire was sent to a total of 886 doctors and there was a total of 256 responses were received. The questionnaire was submitted anonymously and no personal data was collected. The respondents were allowed to submit only once to prevent duplicity of response. We used the DASS 21 scale as the assessment tool. Data was collected using google forms and the collected data was transferred to a Microsoft Excel sheet for analysis.Results: Our study on 256 doctors 40.75% doctors were found to be suffering from Depression, 38.29% from anxiety & 32.4% from stress in the current pandemic situation. Anaesthesiologists were found to have 30.29% depression; Anxiety was found among 42.56% and stress was found among 37.24%.Conclusion: Stressors, like gruelling shifts, risk of infections, non-availability of protective kits, health risk to family and friends etc, are many and respite seems to be far. We need to address and acknowledge the mental health of healthcare workers and people working in critical care into consideration and find solutions to the underlying causes so that the current and future of the healthcare can be saved from mental health crisis.

scholarly journals Investigating the Psychological Impact of COVID-19 among Healthcare Workers: A Meta-Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (23) ◽  
pp. 9096
Author(s):  
Kavita Batra ◽  
Tejinder Pal Singh ◽  
Manoj Sharma ◽  
Ravi Batra ◽  
Nena Schvaneveldt
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Health ◽  
Subgroup Analysis ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Post Traumatic Stress ◽  
Pooled Prevalence ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
The Impact

Previous meta-analyses were conducted during the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, which utilized a smaller pool of data. The current meta-analysis aims to provide additional (and updated) evidence related to the psychological impact among healthcare workers. The search strategy was developed by a medical librarian and bibliographical databases, including Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Scopus were searched for studies examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological health of healthcare workers. Articles were screened by three reviewers. Heterogeneity among studies was assessed by I2 statistic. The random-effects model was utilized to obtain the pooled prevalence. A subgroup analysis by region, gender, quality of study, assessment methods, healthcare profession, and exposure was performed. Publication bias was assessed by Funnel plot and Egger linear regression test. Sixty-five studies met the inclusion criteria and the total sample constituted 79,437 participants. The pooled prevalence of anxiety, depression, stress, post-traumatic stress syndrome, insomnia, psychological distress, and burnout was 34.4%, 31.8%, 40.3%, 11.4%, 27.8%, 46.1%, and 37.4% respectively. The subgroup analysis indicated higher anxiety and depression prevalence among females, nurses, and frontline responders than males, doctors, and second-line healthcare workers. This study highlights the need for designing a targeted intervention to improve resilience and foster post-traumatic growth among frontline responders.

scholarly journals The Relational Assessment of Neglected Youth (RANY): Probing the Need for an Assessment Tool

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Corrine Dale
Keyword(s):  
Child Neglect ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Cultural Theory ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Relational Factors ◽  
Older Youth ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Relationship Assessment

While child neglect is the most substantiated form of child maltreatment, there is a lack of assessment tools leading to effective treatment, particularly among older victims of neglect. To date, the research has focused on younger victims and the subsequent disruption in the attachment relationship. Although development of child neglect assessment tools has been pioneered by an ecological model, the relational nature of this type of maltreatment also necessitates an assessment of relational factors that are highly correlated to child neglect. Because neglect occurs within the caregiver relationship, assessment of interpersonal impairments among older youth can best be guided by relational cultural theory, which postulates people grow and develop through relationships. Accordingly, the Relational Assessment of Neglected Youth (RANY) is a proposed assessment tool aimed at identifying the foundational elements of neglect, the incongruence between neglect and relational growth and development, and the psychological impact of neglect. The development of the RANY depends heavily on the identification of interpersonal elements and is driven by the need for youth and caregiver input. This article constructs a case for the development of the RANY, which proposes to fill the gap in assessment of older victims of neglect and the resultant relational and psychological impairment.

scholarly journals Psychometric properties of a novel knowledge assessment tool of mechanical ventilation for emergency medicine residents in the northeastern United States

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy B. Richards ◽  
Tania D. Strout ◽  
Todd A. Seigel ◽  
Susan R. Wilcox
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Emergency Medicine ◽  
Mechanical Ventilation ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Item Difficulty ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Knowledge Assessment ◽  
Northeastern United States ◽  
Item Discrimination

Purpose: Prior descriptions of the psychometric properties of validated knowledge assessment tools designed to determine Emergency medicine (EM) residents understanding of physiologic and clinical concepts related to mechanical ventilation are lacking. In this setting, we have performed this study to describe the psychometric and performance properties of a novel knowledge assessment tool that measures EM residents’ knowledge of topics in mechanical ventilation.Methods: Results from a multicenter, prospective, survey study involving 219 EM residents from 8 academic hospitals in northeastern United States were analyzed to quantify reliability, item difficulty, and item discrimination of each of the 9 questions included in the knowledge assessment tool for 3 weeks, beginning in January 2013. Results: The response rate for residents completing the knowledge assessment tool was 68.6% (214 out of 312 EM residents). Reliability was assessed by both Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (0.6293) and the Spearman-Brown coefficient (0.6437). Item difficulty ranged from 0.39 to 0.96, with a mean item difficulty of 0.75 for all 9 questions. Uncorrected item discrimination values ranged from 0.111 to 0.556. Corrected item-total correlations were determined by removing the question being assessed from analysis, resulting in a range of item discrimination from 0.139 to 0.498. Conclusion: Reliability, item difficulty and item discrimination were within satisfactory ranges in this study, demonstrating acceptable psychometric properties of this knowledge assessment tool. This assessment indicates that this knowledge assessment tool is sufficiently rigorous for use in future research studies or for assessment of EM residents for evaluative purposes.

scholarly journals COVID-Well Study: Qualitative Evaluation of Supported Wellbeing Centres and Psychological First Aid for Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly Blake ◽  
Alisha Gupta ◽  
Mahnoor Javed ◽  
Ben Wood ◽  
Steph Knowles ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Qualitative Evaluation ◽  
First Aid ◽  
Peer To Peer ◽  
Care Quality ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Psychological First Aid ◽  
The Uk

Supported wellbeing centres were set up in UK hospital trusts as an early intervention aimed at mitigating the psychological impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers. These provided high quality rest spaces with peer-to-peer psychological support provided by National Health Service (NHS) staff volunteers called ‘wellbeing buddies’, trained in psychological first aid. The aim of the study was to explore the views of centre visitors and operational staff towards this COVID-19 workforce wellbeing provision. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were undertaken with twenty-four (20F, 4M) employees from an acute hospital trust in the UK. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed, data were handled and analysed using thematic analysis. Interviews generated 3 over-arching themes, and 13 sub-themes covering ‘exposure and job roles’, ‘emotional impacts of COVID-19 and ‘the wellbeing centres’. Supported wellbeing centres were viewed as critical for the wellbeing of hospital employees during the first surge of COVID-19 in the UK. Wellbeing initiatives require managerial advocacy and must be inclusive. Job-related barriers to work breaks and accessing staff wellbeing provisions should be addressed. High quality rest spaces and access to peer-to-peer support are seen to benefit individuals, teams, organisations and care quality. Training NHS staff in psychological first aid is a useful approach to supporting the wellbeing of the NHS workforce during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

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