The sustained psychological impact of coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on hospital workers 2 years after the outbreak: a repeated cross-sectional study in Kobe.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare workers who are exposed to coronavirus disease 2019 are psychologically distressed. This study aimed to evaluate the mental health outcomes of hospital workers 2 years after the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 and to identify changes in the stress of hospital workers and predicted risk factors. METHODS: This survey was conducted 2 years after the initial evaluation performed under the first emergency declaration of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic among hospital workers at the same hospital in an ordinance-designated city in Japan from June to July 2022. Sociodemographic data, 19 stress-related question responses, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, and the Maslach burnout inventory-general survey were collected. Multiple regression models were used to identify factors associated with each of the mental health outcomes 2 years after the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak. RESULTS: We received 719 valid responses. Between 2020 and 2022, hospital workers' anxiety about infection decreased, whereas their exhaustion and workload increased. Multiple regression analysis revealed that 2 years after the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak, nurses and young people were at a higher risk of experiencing stress and burnout due to emotional exhaustion, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to examine the long-term stress of hospital workers measured in Japan. Exhaustion and workload were worsened 2 years into the pandemic. Therefore, health and medical institutions should continuously monitor the physical and psychological health of staff members.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Associated Control Measures on the Mental Health of the General Population : A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: To what extent the COVID-19 pandemic and its containment measures influenced mental health in the general population is still unclear. PURPOSE: To assess the trajectory of mental health symptoms during the first year of the pandemic and examine dose-response relations with characteristics of the pandemic and its containment. DATA SOURCES: Relevant articles were identified from the living evidence database of the COVID-19 Open Access Project, which indexes COVID-19-related publications from MEDLINE via PubMed, Embase via Ovid, and PsycInfo. Preprint publications were not considered. STUDY SELECTION: Longitudinal studies that reported data on the general population's mental health using validated scales and that were published before 31 March 2021 were eligible. DATA EXTRACTION: An international crowd of 109 trained reviewers screened references and extracted study characteristics, participant characteristics, and symptom scores at each timepoint. Data were also included for the following country-specific variables: days since the first case of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the stringency of governmental containment measures, and the cumulative numbers of cases and deaths. DATA SYNTHESIS: In a total of 43 studies (331 628 participants), changes in symptoms of psychological distress, sleep disturbances, and mental well-being varied substantially across studies. On average, depression and anxiety symptoms worsened in the first 2 months of the pandemic (standardized mean difference at 60 days, -0.39 [95% credible interval, -0.76 to -0.03]); thereafter, the trajectories were heterogeneous. There was a linear association of worsening depression and anxiety with increasing numbers of reported cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection and increasing stringency in governmental measures. Gender, age, country, deprivation, inequalities, risk of bias, and study design did not modify these associations. LIMITATIONS: The certainty of the evidence was low because of the high risk of bias in included studies and the large amount of heterogeneity. Stringency measures and surges in cases were strongly correlated and changed over time. The observed associations should not be interpreted as causal relationships. CONCLUSION: Although an initial increase in average symptoms of depression and anxiety and an association between higher numbers of reported cases and more stringent measures were found, changes in mental health symptoms varied substantially across studies after the first 2 months of the pandemic. This suggests that different populations responded differently to the psychological stress generated by the pandemic and its containment measures. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: Swiss National Science Foundation. (PROSPERO: CRD42020180049).

Psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital workers in Kobe: A cross-sectional survey

Aim Many health-care workers exposed to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are psychologically distressed. This study aimed to investigate the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital workers under the emergency declaration in Japan. Methods This cross-sectional, survey-based study collected sociodemographic data and responses to 19 stress-related questions and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), which measures post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, from all 3217 staff members at Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital from April 16, 2020 to June 8, 2020. Exploratory factor analysis was applied to the 19 stress-related questions. Multiple regression models were used to evaluate the association of personal characteristics with each score of the four factors and the IES-R. Results We received 951 valid responses;640 of these were by females, and 311 were by respondents aged in their 20s. Nurses accounted for the largest percentage of the job category. Women, those aged in their 30s?50s, nurses, and frontline workers had a high risk of experiencing stress. The prevalence of stress (IES-R?≥?25) was 16.7%. The psychological impact was significantly greater for those aged in their 30s?50s and those who were not medical doctors. Conclusions This is the first study to examine the stress of hospital workers, as measured by the IES-R, under the emergency declaration in Japan. It showed that women, those aged in their 30s?50s, nurses, and frontline workers have a high risk of experiencing stress. Health and medical institutions should pay particular attention to the physical and psychological health of these staff members.

Psychological Impact of Masks and Infection-Prevention Plastic Partitions on Anxiety for Infection and Patient-Doctor Relationships During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: To investigate the impact of masks and plastic partitions on patient-doctor communication and subjective anxiety for infection in patients with psychiatric disorders.Methods: Subjects were patients who visited a psychiatric clinic in Japan from April 27 to August 31, 2020. Anxiety of being infected and the psychological barrier to communication were evaluated on a 5-point scale.Results: The final analysis included 425 patients. Most participants answered that there was no change with regard to communication when the doctor was wearing a mask (n = 353, 91.0%) or using a plastic partition (n = 318, 82.8%). Most participants responded that anxiety for being infected was very mild, a little mild, or not changed by the doctor wearing a mask and using a plastic partition. Most participants felt significantly less anxiety with the doctor wearing a mask/using a plastic partition before than after the state of emergency declaration (P = .005 for mask and P < .001 for plastic partition). Participants in the older age range felt significantly higher anxiety compared to those in the younger and middle age range groups from doctors wearing masks (P < .001) and compared to those in the middle age range group from plastic partitions (P = .001).Conclusions: Use of masks and plastic partitions in psychiatric practice is recommended, as it may result in reduction of anxiety for infection without affecting patient-doctor communication in patients with psychiatric disorders. The generalizability of the results of the present study should be tested.