Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health of Healthcare Workers

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 18; no. 4; p. 1435
• Main Authors: Chatzittofis, Andreas, Karanikola, Maria, Michailidou, Kyriaki, Constantinidou, Anastasia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 03.02.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Aged; Anxiety disorders; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cyprus - epidemiology; Demographics; Demography; Depression; Depression - epidemiology; Female; Gender; Health care; Health Personnel - psychology; Healthcare workers; Humans; Male; Medical personnel; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental Health; Middle Aged; Nurses; Pandemics; Pharmacists; Physicians; Population; Post traumatic stress disorder; Post-traumatic stress; Psychological stress; Questionnaires; Signs and symptoms; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - epidemiology; Suicides & suicide attempts; Surveys and Questionnaires; Variables; Young Adult; Cyprus; China; COVID-19; depression; post-traumatic stress; healthcare workers
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18041435

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a great impact on healthcare workers (HCWs) that includes negative mental health outcomes, such as post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depressive symptoms. In this cross-sectional study, we report on mental health outcomes among HCWs in Cyprus. Data were collected between 3 May and 27 May 2020, with the use of an online questionnaire that included demographics (sex, age, occupation, education, work sector, years of work experience), the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) which assesses depressive symptoms, the Impact of Events Scale Revised (IES-R), which measures post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and the-10 item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) which quantifies stress responses. Participants (42% physicians, 24% nurses, 18% physiotherapists, 16% classified as "other") were 58% of female gender and aged 21-76. A total of 79 (18.6%) and 62 HCWs (14.6%) reported clinically significant depressive (PHQ-9 ≥ 10) and post-traumatic stress (IES-R > 33) symptoms respectively. Nurses were more likely than physicians to suffer from depression (adjusted prevalence ratio 1.7 (1.06-2.73); = 0.035) and PTSD (adjusted prevalence ratio 2.51 (1.49-4.23); = 0.001). Even in a country with a rather low spread of the COVID-19, such as Cyprus, HCWs reported a substantial mental health burden, with nurses reporting increased depressive and PTSD symptoms compared to other HCWs.