Mental Health of Healthcare Professionals: Two Years of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Portugal

Alexandra Costa (), Teresa Caldas de Almeida, Mónica Fialho, Célia Rasga, Hugo Martiniano, Osvaldo Santos, Ana Virgolino, Astrid Moura Vicente and Maria João Heitor
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Alexandra Costa: Departamento de Promoção da Saúde e Prevenção de Doenças Não-Transmissíveis, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, 1649-016 Lisboa, Portugal
Teresa Caldas de Almeida: Departamento de Promoção da Saúde e Prevenção de Doenças Não-Transmissíveis, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, 1649-016 Lisboa, Portugal
Mónica Fialho: Environmental Health Behaviour Lab, Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 2649-028 Lisboa, Portugal
Célia Rasga: Departamento de Promoção da Saúde e Prevenção de Doenças Não-Transmissíveis, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, 1649-016 Lisboa, Portugal
Hugo Martiniano: Departamento de Promoção da Saúde e Prevenção de Doenças Não-Transmissíveis, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, 1649-016 Lisboa, Portugal
Osvaldo Santos: Environmental Health Behaviour Lab, Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 2649-028 Lisboa, Portugal
Ana Virgolino: Environmental Health Behaviour Lab, Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 2649-028 Lisboa, Portugal
Astrid Moura Vicente: Departamento de Promoção da Saúde e Prevenção de Doenças Não-Transmissíveis, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, 1649-016 Lisboa, Portugal
Maria João Heitor: Environmental Health Behaviour Lab, Instituto de Saúde Ambiental, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, 2649-028 Lisboa, Portugal

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-21

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic increased psychosocial risk factors among healthcare professionals (HCPs). Objective: To characterize Portuguese HCPs mental health (MH), estimate anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and burnout symptoms, and identify risk/protective factors. A cross-sectional online survey and a longitudinal assessment were conducted in 2020 (T0) and 2021 (T1). Sociodemographic and occupational variables, COVID-19-related experiences and protective behavior data were collected from a non-probabilistic sample of HCPs in Portugal. Symptoms of anxiety, depression, PTSD, burnout and resilience were assessed using the Portuguese versions of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-5), the Shirom–Melamed Burnout Measure (MBSM) and the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10), respectively. Risk and protective factors were identified through simple and multiple logistic regression models. Overall, 2027 participants answered the survey in T0 and 1843 in T1. The percentage of moderate-to-severe symptoms decreased from T0 to T1; however, a considerable proportion of HCPs reported symptoms of distress in both years. Being a woman, working in a COVID-19-treatment frontline position and work–life balance increased the odds of distress. High resilience, good social/family support, and hobbies/lifestyle maintenance were found to be protective factors. Globally, our results show that performing as a HCP during the pandemic may result in long-term effects on MH.

Keywords: anxiety; depression; stress disorders; post-traumatic; professional burnout; resilience; mental health promotion; risk and protective factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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