Help Seeking of Highly Specialized Mental Health Treatment before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Health Professionals

María Dolores Braquehais, Esperanza L. Gómez-Duran, Gemma Nieva, Sergi Valero, Josep Antoni Ramos-Quiroga and Eugeni Bruguera
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María Dolores Braquehais: Integral Care Program for Sick Health Professionals, Galatea Clinic, Galatea Foundation, 08017 Barcelona, Spain
Esperanza L. Gómez-Duran: Integral Care Program for Sick Health Professionals, Galatea Clinic, Galatea Foundation, 08017 Barcelona, Spain
Gemma Nieva: Integral Care Program for Sick Health Professionals, Galatea Clinic, Galatea Foundation, 08017 Barcelona, Spain
Sergi Valero: Integral Care Program for Sick Health Professionals, Galatea Clinic, Galatea Foundation, 08017 Barcelona, Spain
Josep Antoni Ramos-Quiroga: Psychiatry, Mental Health and Addiction Research Group, Networking Research on Mental Health (CIBERSAM), Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Vall d’Hebron Hospital Universitari, Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
Eugeni Bruguera: Integral Care Program for Sick Health Professionals, Galatea Clinic, Galatea Foundation, 08017 Barcelona, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 6, 1-10

Abstract: (1) Background: Ongoing specialized programs for health professionals (HPs) adapted their treatment services during the COVID-19 pandemic. (2) Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study of medical e-records of HPs with mental disorders working in Catalonia that were consecutively admitted to the Galatea Care Program Clinical Unit. The sample (N = 1461) was divided into two periods: 21.5 months before ( n = 637) and after ( n = 824) 14 March 2020. (3) Results: There was a significant increase (29.4%) in the number of referrals to the specialized Clinical Unit during the pandemic, especially with respect to physicians compared to nurses. The percentage of HP women at admission and the clinical severity of the first treatment episode remained without changes before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The most prevalent main diagnoses also remained similar: adjustment disorders (41.5%), mood disorders (24.9%), anxiety disorders (14.4%), and substance use disorders (11.8%). (4) Conclusions: HPs, particularly physicians, more frequently sought voluntary help from specialized mental health programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future studies are needed to analyze the reasons behind this finding and the evolution of referrals to these types of programs after the COVID-19 outbreak.

Keywords: COVID-19; health professionals; mental health; treatment services; mental health programs; mental disorders; substance use disorders (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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