• J. Med. Internet Res. · Jan 2021

    Multicenter Study

    Mental Health Among Medical Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Eight European Countries: Cross-sectional Survey Study.

    • Svenja Hummel, Neele Oetjen, Junfeng Du, Elisabetta Posenato, Rosa Maria Resende de Almeida, Raquel Losada, Oscar Ribeiro, Vincenza Frisardi, Louise Hopper, Asarnusch Rashid, Habib Nasser, Alexandra König, Gottfried Rudofsky, Steffi Weidt, Ali Zafar, Nadine Gronewold, Gwendolyn Mayer, and Jobst-Hendrik Schultz.
    • Department of General Internal and Psychosomatic Medicine, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.
    • J. Med. Internet Res. 2021 Jan 18; 23 (1): e24983.

    BackgroundThe death toll of COVID-19 topped 170,000 in Europe by the end of May 2020. COVID-19 has caused an immense psychological burden on the population, especially among doctors and nurses who are faced with high infection risks and increased workload.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to compare the mental health of medical professionals with nonmedical professionals in different European countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized that medical professionals, particularly those exposed to COVID-19 at work, would have higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. We also aimed to determine their main stressors and most frequently used coping strategies during the crisis.MethodsA cross-sectional online survey was conducted during peak COVID-19 months in 8 European countries. The questionnaire included demographic data and inquired whether the participants were exposed to COVID-19 at work or not. Mental health was assessed via the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales32 (23.53)-21 (DASS-21). A 12-item checklist on preferred coping strategies and another 23-item questionnaire on major stressors were completed by medical professionals.ResultsThe sample (N=609) consisted of 189 doctors, 165 nurses, and 255 nonmedical professionals. Participants from France and the United Kingdom reported experiencing severe/extremely severe depression, anxiety, and stress more often compared to those from the other countries. Nonmedical professionals had significantly higher scores for depression and anxiety. Among medical professionals, no significant link was reported between direct contact with patients with COVID-19 at work and anxiety, depression, or stress. "Uncertainty about when the epidemic will be under control" caused the most amount of stress for health care professionals while "taking protective measures" was the most frequently used coping strategy among all participants.ConclusionsCOVID-19 poses a major challenge to the mental health of working professionals as a considerable proportion of our participants showed high values for depression, anxiety, and stress. Even though medical professionals exhibited less mental stress than nonmedical professionals, sufficient help should be offered to all occupational groups with an emphasis on effective coping strategies.©Svenja Hummel, Neele Oetjen, Junfeng Du, Elisabetta Posenato, Rosa Maria Resende de Almeida, Raquel Losada, Oscar Ribeiro, Vincenza Frisardi, Louise Hopper, Asarnusch Rashid, Habib Nasser, Alexandra König, Gottfried Rudofsky, Steffi Weidt, Ali Zafar, Nadine Gronewold, Gwendolyn Mayer, Jobst-Hendrik Schultz. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 18.01.2021.

      Pubmed     Free full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…

What will the 'Medical Journal of You' look like?

Start your free 21 day trial now.

We guarantee your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.