Acute Stress in Health Workers during Two Consecutive Epidemic Waves of COVID-19

Kathrine Jáuregui Renaud, Davis Cooper-Bribiesca, Elizabet Martínez-Pichardo, José A. Miguel Puga, Dulce M. Rascón-Martínez, Luis A. Sánchez Hurtado, Tania Colin Martínez, Eliseo Espinosa-Poblano, Juan Carlos Anda-Garay, Jorge I. González Diaz, Etzel Cardeña and Francisco Avelar Garnica
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Kathrine Jáuregui Renaud: Unidad de Investigación Médica en Otoneurología, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de Mexico 06720, Mexico
Davis Cooper-Bribiesca: Departamento de Psiquiatría, Hospital de Especialidades del Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de Mexico 06720, Mexico
Elizabet Martínez-Pichardo: Departamento de Psiquiatría, Hospital de Especialidades del Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de Mexico 06720, Mexico
José A. Miguel Puga: Unidad de Investigación Médica en Otoneurología, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de Mexico 06720, Mexico
Dulce M. Rascón-Martínez: Departamento de Anestesiología, Hospital de Especialidades del Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de Mexico 06720, Mexico
Luis A. Sánchez Hurtado: Departamento de Terapia Intensiva, Hospital de Especialidades del Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de Mexico 06720, Mexico
Tania Colin Martínez: Departamento de Admisión Continua, Hospital de Especialidades del Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de Mexico 06720, Mexico
Eliseo Espinosa-Poblano: Departamento de Inhaloterapia y Neumología, Hospital de Especialidades del Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de Mexico 06720, Mexico
Juan Carlos Anda-Garay: Departamento de Medicina Interna, Hospital de Especialidades del Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de Mexico 06720, Mexico
Jorge I. González Diaz: Departamento de Imagenología, Hospital de Especialidades del Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de Mexico 06720, Mexico
Etzel Cardeña: Center for Research on Consciousness and Anomalous Psychology, Department of Psychology, Lund University, 22100 Lund, Sweden
Francisco Avelar Garnica: Departamento de Imagenología, Hospital de Especialidades del Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Ciudad de Mexico 06720, Mexico

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 19, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has provoked generalized uncertainty around the world, with health workers experiencing anxiety, depression, burnout, insomnia, and stress. Although the effects of the pandemic on mental health may change as it evolves, the majority of reports have been web-based, cross-sectional studies. We performed a study assessing acute stress in frontline health workers during two consecutive epidemic waves. After screening for trait anxiety/depression and dissociative experiences, we evaluated changes in acute stress, considering resilience, state anxiety, burnout, depersonalization/derealization symptoms, and quality of sleep as cofactors. During the first epidemic wave (April 2020), health workers reported acute stress related to COVID-19, which was related to state anxiety. After the first epidemic wave, acute stress decreased, with no increase during the second epidemic wave (December 2020), and further decreased when vaccination started. During the follow-up (April 2020 to February 2021), the acute stress score was related to bad quality of sleep. However, acute stress, state anxiety, and burnout were all related to trait anxiety/depression, while the resilience score was invariant through time. Overall, the results emphasize the relevance of mental health screening before, during, and after an epidemic wave of infections, in order to enable coping during successive sanitary crises.

Keywords: COVID-19; health workers; stress; anxiety; depression; sleep (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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