Mental Health States Experienced by Perinatal Healthcare Workers during COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

Loredana Cena, Matteo Rota, Stefano Calza, Barbara Massardi, Alice Trainini and Alberto Stefana
Additional contact information
Loredana Cena: Observatory of Perinatal Clinical Psychology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Section of Neuroscience, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
Matteo Rota: Unit of Biostatistics and Biomathematics & Unit of Bioinformatics, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
Stefano Calza: Unit of Biostatistics and Biomathematics & Unit of Bioinformatics, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
Barbara Massardi: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell’Emilia Romagna (IZSLER), 25124 Brescia, Italy
Alice Trainini: Observatory of Perinatal Clinical Psychology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Section of Neuroscience, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy
Alberto Stefana: Observatory of Perinatal Clinical Psychology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Section of Neuroscience, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: Background: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on mental health status in a variety of populations. Methods: An online non-probability sample survey was used to assess psychological distress symptoms and burnout among perinatal healthcare professionals (PHPs) during the pandemic in Italy. The questionnaire included the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Demographic and occupational factors associated with stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms were analyzed. Results: The sample size was 195. The estimated self-reported rates of moderate to severe anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, and perceived stress levels were 18.7, 18.7, and 21.5%, respectively. Furthermore, 6.2% of respondents reported burnout. One factor associated with all three self-reported psychological distress issues was suffering from trauma unrelated to the pandemic (aOR: 7.34, 95% CI: 2.73–20.28 for depression; aOR: 6.13, 95% CI: 2.28–16.73 for anxiety; aOR: 3.20, 95% CI: 1.14–8.88 for stress). Compared to physicians, psychologists had lower odds of developing clinically significant depressive symptoms (aOR: 0.21, 95% CI: 0.04–0.94) and high stress levels (aOR: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.04–0.80). Conclusions: High rates of self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as perceived stress, among PHPs were reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health authorities should implement and integrate timely and regular evidence-based assessment of psychological distress targeting PHPs in their work plans.

Keywords: COVID-19; pandemic; depression; anxiety; stress; burnout; healthcare workers; correlators (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/12/6542/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/12/6542/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:12:p:6542-:d:576868

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().