Burnout and Somatic Symptoms among Frontline Healthcare Professionals at the peak of the Italian COVID-19 Pandemic.

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We provide a first account of the psychological and physical symptoms experienced by healthcare workers during the Italian COVID-19 peak. It is of pressing urgency that national and international healthcare institutions develop a strategic plan to strengthen the clinicians’ psychological resilience to prevent them to become “second victims” in this scenario.

Abstract

Italy is among the most severely hit nations in terms of hospital patients’ overload, and its healthcare workforce is struggling to cope with challenges that could threaten their own wellbeing. In this scenario, understanding the health-related consequences of COVID-19 outbreak on Italian frontline healthcare professionals is urgent. Our study provides a first account of the huge psycho-physical impact of COVID-19 outbreak for healthcare workers in Italy. Italian healthcare professionals reported relevant work-related psychological pressure, emotional burnout and somatic symptoms. This result requires attention as previous studies showed that emotional distress is associated with long-lasting effect on professionals’ health, including risk of post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Factors Associated With Mental Health Outcomes Among Health Care Workers Exposed to Coronavirus Disease 2019

Jianbo Lai, Simeng Ma, Ying Wang … (2020)

Key Points Question What factors are associated with mental health outcomes among health care workers in China who are treating patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)? Findings In this cross-sectional study of 1257 health care workers in 34 hospitals equipped with fever clinics or wards for patients with COVID-19 in multiple regions of China, a considerable proportion of health care workers reported experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and distress, especially women, nurses, those in Wuhan, and front-line health care workers directly engaged in diagnosing, treating, or providing nursing care to patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. Meaning These findings suggest that, among Chinese health care workers exposed to COVID-19, women, nurses, those in Wuhan, and front-line health care workers have a high risk of developing unfavorable mental health outcomes and may need psychological support or interventions.

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COVID-19: protecting health-care workers

The Lancet (2020)

Worldwide, as millions of people stay at home to minimise transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, health-care workers prepare to do the exact opposite. They will go to clinics and hospitals, putting themselves at high risk from COVID-2019. Figures from China's National Health Commission show that more than 3300 health-care workers have been infected as of early March and, according to local media, by the end of February at least 22 had died. In Italy, 20% of responding health-care workers were infected, and some have died. Reports from medical staff describe physical and mental exhaustion, the torment of difficult triage decisions, and the pain of losing patients and colleagues, all in addition to the infection risk. As the pandemic accelerates, access to personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers is a key concern. Medical staff are prioritised in many countries, but PPE shortages have been described in the most affected facilities. Some medical staff are waiting for equipment while already seeing patients who may be infected or are supplied with equipment that might not meet requirements. Alongside concerns for their personal safety, health-care workers are anxious about passing the infection to their families. Health-care workers who care for elderly parents or young children will be drastically affected by school closures, social distancing policies, and disruption in the availability of food and other essentials. Health-care systems globally could be operating at more than maximum capacity for many months. But health-care workers, unlike ventilators or wards, cannot be urgently manufactured or run at 100% occupancy for long periods. It is vital that governments see workers not simply as pawns to be deployed, but as human individuals. In the global response, the safety of health-care workers must be ensured. Adequate provision of PPE is just the first step; other practical measures must be considered, including cancelling non-essential events to prioritise resources; provision of food, rest, and family support; and psychological support. Presently, health-care workers are every country's most valuable resource. © 2020 Denis Lovrovic/AFP/Getty Images 2020 Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.

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Impact on health care workers employed in high-risk areas during the Toronto SARS outbreak

Rima Styra, Laura Hawryluck, Susan Robinson … (2008)

Background A number of publications focusing on health care workers (HCWs) during a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak have suggested that HCWs experienced psychological distress, particularly increased levels of posttraumatic stress symptomatology (PTSS). Factors contributing to increased distress in HCWs working in high-risk areas treating patients with SARS have not been fully elucidated. The goal of this study was to quantify the psychological effects of working in a high-risk unit during the SARS outbreak. Methods HCWs in a Toronto hospital who worked in high-risk areas completed a questionnaire regarding their attitude toward the SARS crisis along with the Impact of Event Scale—Revised, which screens for PTSS. The comparison group consisted of clinical units that had no contact with patients infected with SARS. Results Factors that were identified to cause distress in the 248 respondent HCWs were the following: (a) perception of risk to themselves, (b) impact of the SARS crisis on their work life, (c) depressive affect, and (d) working in a high-risk unit. In addition, HCWs who cared for only one SARS patient in comparison to those caring for multiple SARS patients experienced more PTSS. Conclusions As expected, HCWs who were working in high-risk units experienced greater distress. Contrary to expectations, HCWs who experienced greater contact with SARS patients while working in the high-risk units were less distressed. This suggests that HCW experience in treating patients infected with SARS may be a mediating factor that could be amenable to intervention in future outbreaks.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Serena Barello: Role: Conceptualization;Methodology;Writing- Original draft preparation;Supervision;Writing- Reviewing and Editing

Lorenzo Palamenghi: Role: Writing- Original draft preparation;Data curation and analysis

Guendalina Graffigna: Role: Conceptualization;Methodology;Supervision

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Psychiatry Res

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Psychiatry Res

Title: Psychiatry Research

Publisher: Elsevier B.V.

ISSN (Print): 0165-1781

ISSN (Electronic): 1872-7123

Publication date PMC-release: 27 May 2020

Publication date (Electronic): 27 May 2020

Electronic Location Identifier: 113129

Affiliations

[0001]EngageMinds HUB – Consumer, Food & Health Engagement Research Center, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italy

Author notes

[* ]Corresponding author at: Assistant Professor, EngageMInds HUB, Consumer, Food & Health Engagement Research Center, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italy serena.barello@ 123456unicatt.it

Article

Publisher ID: S0165-1781(20)31197-5 Publisher ID: 113129

DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113129

PMC ID: 7255285

PubMed ID: 32485487

SO-VID: e26c944e-6f46-43fa-813b-d2be04fb9e27

License:

Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.

History

Date received : 1 May 2020

Date revision received : 19 May 2020

Date accepted : 23 May 2020

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Burnout and Somatic Symptoms among Frontline Healthcare Professionals at the peak of the Italian COVID-19 Pandemic.

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Novel Coronavirus Disease COVID-19

Most cited references 7

Factors Associated With Mental Health Outcomes Among Health Care Workers Exposed to Coronavirus Disease 2019

COVID-19: protecting health-care workers

Impact on health care workers employed in high-risk areas during the Toronto SARS outbreak

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Cited by 268

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