[Covid-19 Pandemic: Anxiety Experience of Resident and Hospital Psychiatrists]. / Covid-19-Pandemie: Angsterleben von niedergelassenen und Krankenhaus-Psychiatern.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: To date, no studies have examined the pandemic-related stress experience of inpatient versus outpatient psychiatrists. Therefore, the aim is to investigate the extent of Covid-19 exposure, anxiety, stress experience, and coping abilities among psychiatrists in private practice compared to physicians in psychiatric and psychosomatic hospitals. METHODS: E-mail-based questionnaires with 13 items were used to assess anxiety and stress experience. A total of 105 practicing psychiatrists, and 73 physicians and psychologists from four clinics (including the Clinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy) were surveyed between early April and mid-May 2020. RESULTS: Compared to hospital psychiatrists, psychiatrists in private practice more often felt severely restricted (52.4 vs. 32.9% p=0.010), at risk of infection (35.2 vs. 13.7%, p<0.001) and financially threatened (24.7 vs. 6.9%, p=0.002). The proportion of well-informed practicing psychiatrists was lower (47.6 vs. 63.0%, p=0.043) and the proportion with lack of protective equipment was higher (27.6 vs. 4.1%, p<0.001). At the same COVID-19 exposure level (8.6 vs. 8.2%), office-based psychiatrists were more likely to report high anxiety, although not significantly, compared to hospital psychiatrists (18.1 vs. 9.6%, p=0.114). Risk factors for experiencing anxiety in both groups were feeling restricted (OR=5.52, p=0.025) and experienced risk of infection (OR=5.74, p=0.005). Exposure level, clinic or practice affiliation, age, gender, and other dimensions of threat experience and coping behavior had no influence. DISCUSSION: Psychiatrists in private practice felt more stressed and threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic compared with hospital-based colleagues. The experience of anxiety was dependent on feeling constrained and at risk of exposure, but not on exposure, protective equipment. Objective indicators seem to play less of an important role in the expression of anxiety than subjective experience.