Perception of the 2020 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic among medical professionals in Germany: results from a nationwide online survey

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented global challenge. While drastic measures within the German healthcare system and extensive restrictions of public life up to now have prevented a healthcare collapse, the current situation implicates a wide range of burden on medical prof...

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Published inEmerging Microbes & Infections
Main Authors Paffenholz, Pia, Peine, Arne, Hellmich, Martin, Paffenholz, Stella V, Martin, Lukas, Luedde, Mark, Haverkamp, Miriam, Roderburg, Christoph, Marx, Gernot, Heidenreich, Axel, Trautwein, Christian, Luedde, Tom, Loosen, Sven H
Format Web Resource
LanguageEnglish
Published Abington Taylor & Francis Ltd 23.06.2020
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Summary:Background: The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented global challenge. While drastic measures within the German healthcare system and extensive restrictions of public life up to now have prevented a healthcare collapse, the current situation implicates a wide range of burden on medical professionals. We evaluated the perception and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among medical professionals in Germany. Methods: A total of n=2827 medical professionals in Germany participated in an online survey between March 18th and April 11th. Results: While most participants stated that Germany was well prepared and rated the measures taken by their employer as positive, subgroup analyses revealed decisive differences. The preventive measures were rated significantly worse by nurses compared to doctors (p<0.001) and by participants from ambulatory healthcare centers compared to participants from maximum-care hospitals (p<0.001). Importantly, shortage of protective medical equipment was reported more commonly in the ambulatory sector (p<0.001) and in East German federal states (p=0.004). Moreover, the majority of health care professionals (72.4%) reported significant restrictions of daily work routine. Finally, most participants reported a negative influence on their mood (48.3%) and over 60% of medical professionals had concerns regarding their own health, which were more pronounced among female participants (p=0.024). Conclusion: This survey is the first to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical professionals of both the hospital and ambulatory healthcare sector in Germany and may indicate starting points on how medical professionals could be supported in carrying out their important activities during the ongoing and future healthcare challenges.