The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Health Care Providers; What Does It Mean Psychologically?
Abstract
In late 2019, the COVID-19 epidemic began in Wuhan, China, which quickly spread around the world, becoming an international concern and pandemic. As with previous SARS and Influenza H1N1 pandemics, medical staffs providing services to patients are exposed to increased levels of mental stress. This review article introduces these symptoms based on the experience of previous pandemics and the data available on COVID-19 pandemic, introducing the underlying and protective factors against mental distress. Evidence suggests that levels of stress, depression and anxiety symptoms increase in health care providers. Moreover, these symptoms are more common in women, nurses, and people who are at the frontline of providing health care services for COVID-19 patients. Given the need to pay attention to maintain and promote the mental health of medical workers to provide effective services, this review offers suggestions to the effective management of these conditions at the individual and organizational levels.
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27. Wheaton MG, Abramowitz JS, Berman NC, Fabricant LE, Olatunji BO. Psychological predictors of anxiety in response to the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic. Cognit Ther Res. 2012;36(3):210-8.
28. Greenberg N, Docherty M, Gnanapragasam S, Wessely S. Managing mental health challenges faced by healthcare workers during covid-19 pandemic. BMJ. 2020;368:m1211.
29. Zhang J, Wu W, Zhao X, Zhang W. Recommended psychological crisis intervention response to the 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak in China: a model of West China Hospital. Precis Clin Med. 2020;3(1):3-8.
30. Schreiber M, Cates DS, Formanski S, King M. Maximizing the Resilience of Healthcare Workers in Multi-hazard Events: Lessons from the 2014–2015 Ebola Response in Africa. Mil Med. 2019;184(Suppl 1):114-120.
31. Folkman S, Greer S. Promoting psychological well‐being in the face of serious illness: when theory, research and practice inform each other. Psychooncology. 2000;9(1):11-9.
32. Brymer M, Layne C, Jacobs A, Pynoos R, Ruzek J, Steinberg A, et al. Psychological first aid field operations guide. National Child Traumatic Stress Network. 2006.
33. Wind TR, Rijkeboer M, Andersson G, Riper H. The COVID-19 pandemic: The ‘black swan’for mental health care and a turning point for e-health. Internet Interv. 2020:100317.
34. Maunder R, Hunter J, Vincent L, Bennett J, Peladeau N, Leszcz M, et al. The immediate psychological and occupational impact of the 2003 SARS outbreak in a teaching hospital. CMAJ. 2003;168(10):1245-51.
2. Sood S. Psychological effects of the Coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic. Res Humanit Med Educ. 2020;7:23-6.
3. Wu P, Fang Y, Guan Z, Fan B, Kong J, Yao Z, et al. The psychological impact of the SARS epidemic on hospital employees in China: exposure, risk perception, and altruistic acceptance of risk. Can J Psychiatry. 2009;54(5):302-11.
4. Chong MY, Wang WC, Hsieh WC, Lee CY, Chiu NM, Yeh WC, et al. Psychological impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome on health workers in a tertiary hospital. Br J Psychiatry. 2004;185(2):127-33.
5. Pothiawala S. Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 on Health Care Workers in the Emergency Department. Adv J Emerg Med. 2020; [Epub ahead of print].
6. Tam CW, Pang EP, Lam LC, Chiu HF. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong in 2003: stress and psychological impact among frontline healthcare workers. Psychol Med. 2004;34(7):1197-204.
7. The Lancet. Emerging understandings of 2019-nCoV. Lancet. 2020;395(10221):311.
8. Chen NS, Zhou M, Dong X, Qu JM, Gong FY, Han Y, et al. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study. Lancet. 2020;395(10223):507-13.
9. Zhu Z, Xu S, Wang H, Liu Z, Wu J, Li G, et al. COVID-19 in Wuhan: Immediate Psychological Impact on 5062 Health Workers. medRxiv. 2020.
10. Kang L, Li Y, Hu S, Chen M, Yang C, Yang BX, et al. The mental health of medical workers in Wuhan, China dealing with the 2019 novel coronavirus. Lancet Psychiatry. 2020;7(3):e14.
11. Goulia P, Mantas C, Dimitroula D, Mantis D, Hyphantis T. General hospital staff worries, perceived sufficiency of information and associated psychological distress during the A/H1N1 influenza pandemic. BMC Infect Dis. 2010;10:322.
12. Koh Y, Hegney DG, Drury V. Comprehensive systematic review of healthcare workers' perceptions of risk and use of coping strategies towards emerging respiratory infectious diseases. Int J Evid Based Healthc. 2011;9(4):403-19.
13. Chan AO, Huak CY. Psychological impact of the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak on health care workers in a medium size regional general hospital in Singapore. Occup Med. 2004;54(3):190-6.
14. Nickell LA, Crighton EJ, Tracy CS, Al-Enazy H, Bolaji Y, Hanjrah S, et al. Psychosocial effects of SARS on hospital staff: survey of a large tertiary care institution. CMAJ. 2004;170(5):793-8.
15. Maunder RG, Lancee WJ, Rourke S, Hunter JJ, Goldbloom D, Balderson K, et al. Factors associated with the psychological impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome on nurses and other hospital workers in Toronto. Psychosom Med. 2004;66(6):938-42.
16. Bai Y, Lin CC, Lin CY, Chen JY, Chue CM, Chou P. Survey of stress reactions among health care workers involved with the SARS outbreak. Psychiatr Serv. 2004;55(9):1055-7.
17. Grace SL, Hershenfield K, Robertson E, Stewart DE. Factors affecting perceived risk of contracting severe acute respiratory syndrome among academic physicians. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2004;25(12):1111-3.
18. Maunder R. The experience of the 2003 SARS outbreak as a traumatic stress among frontline healthcare workers in Toronto: lessons learned. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2004;359(1447):1117-25.
19. Wong TW, Yau JK, Chan CL, Kwong RS, Ho SM, Lau CC, et al. The psychological impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak on healthcare workers in emergency departments and how they cope. Eur J Emerg Med. 2005;12(1):13-8.
20. Verma S, Mythily S, Chan Y, Deslypere J, Teo E, Chong S. Post-SARS psychological morbidity and stigma among general practitioners and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners in Singapore. Ann Acad Med Singapore. 2004;33(6):743-8.
21. Lai J, Ma S, Wang Y, Cai Z, Hu J, Wei N, et al. Factors associated with mental health outcomes among health care workers exposed to coronavirus disease 2019. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(3):e203976.
22. Maunder RG, Lancee WJ, Balderson KE, Bennett JP, Borgundvaag B, Evans S, et al. Long-term psychological and occupational effects of providing hospital healthcare during SARS outbreak. Emerg Infect Dis. 2006;12(12):1924-32.
23. Lancee W, Maunder R, Goldbloom D. The co-authors of the Impact of SARS Study. The prevalence of mental disorders in Toronto hospital workers one to two years after SARS. Psychiatr Serv. 2008;59:91-5.
24. Vaughan E, Tinker T. Effective health risk communication about pandemic influenza for vulnerable populations. Am J Public Health. 2009;99(S2):S324-32.
25. Maunder RG, Leszcz M, Savage D, Adam MA, Peladeau N, Romano D, et al. Applying the lessons of SARS to pandemic influenza. Can J Public Health. 2008;99(6):486-8.
26. Schwartz J, King CC, Yen MY. Protecting health care workers during the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak-Lessons from Taiwan's SARS response. Clin Infect Dis. 2020:ciaa255.
27. Wheaton MG, Abramowitz JS, Berman NC, Fabricant LE, Olatunji BO. Psychological predictors of anxiety in response to the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic. Cognit Ther Res. 2012;36(3):210-8.
28. Greenberg N, Docherty M, Gnanapragasam S, Wessely S. Managing mental health challenges faced by healthcare workers during covid-19 pandemic. BMJ. 2020;368:m1211.
29. Zhang J, Wu W, Zhao X, Zhang W. Recommended psychological crisis intervention response to the 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak in China: a model of West China Hospital. Precis Clin Med. 2020;3(1):3-8.
30. Schreiber M, Cates DS, Formanski S, King M. Maximizing the Resilience of Healthcare Workers in Multi-hazard Events: Lessons from the 2014–2015 Ebola Response in Africa. Mil Med. 2019;184(Suppl 1):114-120.
31. Folkman S, Greer S. Promoting psychological well‐being in the face of serious illness: when theory, research and practice inform each other. Psychooncology. 2000;9(1):11-9.
32. Brymer M, Layne C, Jacobs A, Pynoos R, Ruzek J, Steinberg A, et al. Psychological first aid field operations guide. National Child Traumatic Stress Network. 2006.
33. Wind TR, Rijkeboer M, Andersson G, Riper H. The COVID-19 pandemic: The ‘black swan’for mental health care and a turning point for e-health. Internet Interv. 2020:100317.
34. Maunder R, Hunter J, Vincent L, Bennett J, Peladeau N, Leszcz M, et al. The immediate psychological and occupational impact of the 2003 SARS outbreak in a teaching hospital. CMAJ. 2003;168(10):1245-51.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 4 No 2s (2020): COVID-19 | |
| Section | Review article | |
| Keywords | ||
| COVID-19 Health Personnel Mental Health Pandemics | ||
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How to Cite
1.
Aghili SM, Arbabi M. The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Health Care Providers; What Does It Mean Psychologically?. Front Emerg Med. 2020;4(2s):e63.
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