• Michelle Tong, Alicia Hurtado, Richa Deshpande, Robert H Pietrzak, Celestine He, Carly Kaplan, Sabrina Kaplan, Saadia Akhtar, Adriana Feder, Jordyn H Feingold, Jonathan A Ripp, and Lauren A Peccoralo.
• Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2024 Feb 1; 39 (3): 450459450-459.

BackgroundLittle is known about the relationship among systemic racism, psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, and/or post-traumatic stress disorders), and burnout in healthcare workers (HCWs).ObjectiveTo determine whether distress related to awareness of systemic racism contributes to psychological symptoms and/or burnout in HCWs. We explored whether this form of racism-related distress may moderate the relationship between race, ethnicity, psychological symptoms, and burnout.DesignA cross-sectional survey was conducted from November 19, 2020, through January 11, 2021. Statistical analysis was conducted from May 3, 2022, to June 15, 2022.ParticipantsFrontline HCWs at an urban tertiary care hospital in New York City.Main MeasuresDistress related to awareness of systemic racism (SR) and racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes (RD), psychological symptoms, and burnout.Key ResultsTwo thousand one of 4654 HCWs completed the survey (response rate 43.0%). Most HCWs reported experiencing distress related to awareness of systemic racism (1329 [66.4%]) and to racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes (1137 [56.8%]). Non-Hispanic Black participants (SR odds ratio (OR) 2.84, p < .001; RD OR 2.34, p < .001), women (SR OR 1.35, p = .01; RD OR 1.67, p < .001), and those with history of mental illness (SR OR 2.13, p < .001; RD OR 1.66, p < .001) were more likely to report SR- and RD-related distress, respectively. HCWs who experienced "quite-a-bit to extreme" SR-related distress were more likely to screen positive for psychological symptoms (OR 5.90, p < .001) and burnout (OR 2.26, p < .001).ConclusionsOur findings suggest that distress related to awareness of systemic racism, not race/ethnicity, was associated with experiencing psychological symptoms and burnout in HCWs. As the medical community continues to critically examine the role of systemic racism in healthcare, our work is a first step in characterizing its toll on the psychological well-being of HCWs.© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Society of General Internal Medicine.

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