ABSTRACT
Background: The psychosocial risks and job stress have been considered as the most important factors affecting the occupational health and safety and, therefore, exerting significant impact on the health conditions of individuals, organizations, and national economy. Objectives: The present study investigated the experiences of the nurses working in COVID-19 wards of specialty hospitals in Shiraz, Iran.
ABSTRACT
Background: Physician burnout is a serious issue associated with physician attrition, mental and physical problems, and medical errors. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of overall burnout among Interns-Residents and general physicians (GPs)-Specialists during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 220 Interns-Residents and 212 GPs-Specialists in university-affiliated hospitals and clinics in Shiraz, Iran. A convenience sampling method was used to recruit the samples, and the data were gathered using Maslach Burnout Inventory that was previously validated for the Persian language. We used covariance analysis and multiple logistic regression to analyze the data. Results: The mean age of participants was 31.44 (ranged 21-62) years. Multiple logistic regression for GPs-Specialists showed that working in COVID-19 wards during June-July (OR = 13.93, P = 0.01, CI: 3.61-53.51) was associated with increased odds of overall burnout. Moreover, older age among GPs-Specialists was associated with decreased odds of overall burnout (OR = 0.94, P = 0.01, CI: 0.90-0.98). On the other hand, the odds of overall burnout among Interns-Residents was not significantly different between various periods (P = 0.94). Furthermore, age (OR = 0.24, P = 0.01, CI: 0.04-0.47) and being married (OR = 0.31, P = 0.02, CI: 0.12-0.81) were positively associated with decreased odds of overall burnout among Interns-Residents. Conclusions: This study revealed that the risk of professional burnout among specialists and GPs increased over time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, older physicians had a lower risk of burnout. Despite the disagreements regarding the association between burnout and the duration of exposure to patients during epidemics, the findings of this study have the potential to remind policymakers of the importance of the issue among physicians during pandemics to taking appropriate action to prevent this phenomenon. © 2021, Author(s).
ABSTRACT
Background: One unprecedented year after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the pandemic is no longer a short-term stressor;the unremitting/chronic effects of COVID-19 disease is likely to cause impaired physical and mental health upon population and the implemented public health and social measures to limit transmission and reduce mortality and morbidity from COVID-19 expose many people to social isolation, job loss, and economic recession. This study aims to compare mental status and four mental symptoms (somatization, anxiety, depression, and social functions) between two periods during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: Current study consists of two cross-sectional mental health surveys on the Iranian adult population carried out in two periods of March to April 2020 and December 2020 to February 2021 in two important Provinces of Iran (Fars and Khorasan Razavi). In the first survey, 1337 individuals participated in the study and completed the General Health Questionnaire-28, while in the second survey, 1205 participants completed the same questionnaire. Results: Among 1337 participants of the first survey, there were 876 (65.5%) females and 461 (34.5%) males with an average age of 37.41 +/- 10.58 years. In the second survey, there were 1205 participants with mean age of 33.79 +/- 19.57 years. The rates of females and males were 57.7% and 42.3%, respectively. Compared to the first survey, the second one showed that poor mental health condition that was 1.40 (95% confidence interval: 1.171.67) times higher based on the age, sex, education, marital status, economic, alcohol, cigarette, water-pipe, and sedative (P<0.001). Conclusion: Poor mental health status has increased during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. These results revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic was a chronic stressor faced by people every day;therefore, more robust mental health-related considerations must be implemented.