Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health of Healthcare Workers

Andreas Chatzittofis, Maria Karanikola, Kyriaki Michailidou and Anastasia Constantinidou
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Andreas Chatzittofis: Medical School, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus
Maria Karanikola: Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol 3041, Cyprus
Kyriaki Michailidou: Biostatistics Unit, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics and Cyprus School of Molecular Medicine, Nicosia 1683, Cyprus
Anastasia Constantinidou: Medical School, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-8

Abstract: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a great impact on healthcare workers (HCWs) that includes negative mental health outcomes, such as post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms. In this cross-sectional study, we report on mental health outcomes among HCWs in Cyprus. Data were collected between 3 May and 27 May 2020, with the use of an online questionnaire that included demographics (sex, age, occupation, education, work sector, years of work experience), the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) which assesses depressive symptoms, the Impact of Events Scale Revised (IES-R), which measures post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and the-10 item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) which quantifies stress responses. Participants (42% physicians, 24% nurses, 18% physiotherapists, 16% classified as “other”) were 58% of female gender and aged 21–76. A total of 79 (18.6%) and 62 HCWs (14.6%) reported clinically significant depressive (PHQ-9 ? 10) and post-traumatic stress (IES-R > 33) symptoms respectively. Nurses were more likely than physicians to suffer from depression (adjusted prevalence ratio 1.7 (1.06–2.73); p = 0.035) and PTSD (adjusted prevalence ratio 2.51 (1.49–4.23); p = 0.001). Even in a country with a rather low spread of the COVID-19, such as Cyprus, HCWs reported a substantial mental health burden, with nurses reporting increased depressive and PTSD symptoms compared to other HCWs.

Keywords: COVID-19; post-traumatic stress; depression; healthcare workers (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 (11)

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