Patterns of Potential Moral Injury in Post-9/11 Combat Veterans and COVID-19 Healthcare Workers.
J Gen Intern Med
; 37(8): 2033-2040, 2022 06.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1872683
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Moral injury has primarily been studied in combat veterans but might also affect healthcare workers (HCWs) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.OBJECTIVE:
To compare patterns of potential moral injury (PMI) between post-9/11 military combat veterans and healthcare workers (HCWs) surveyed during the COVID-19 pandemic.DESIGN:
Cross-sectional surveys of veterans (2015-2019) and HCWs (2020-2021) in the USA.PARTICIPANTS:
618 military veterans who were deployed to a combat zone after September 11, 2001, and 2099 HCWs working in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. MAINMEASURES:
Other-induced PMI (disturbed by others' immoral acts) and self-induced PMI (disturbed by having violated own morals) were the primary outcomes. Sociodemographic variables, combat/COVID-19 experience, depression, quality of life, and burnout were measured as correlates. KEYRESULTS:
46.1% of post-9/11 veterans and 50.7% of HCWs endorsed other-induced PMI, whereas 24.1% of post-9/11 veterans and 18.2% of HCWs endorsed self-induced PMI. Different types of PMI were significantly associated with gender, race, enlisted vs. officer status, and post-battle traumatic experiences among veterans and with age, race, working in a high COVID-19-risk setting, and reported COVID-19 exposure among HCWs. Endorsing either type of PMI was associated with significantly higher depressive symptoms and worse quality of life in both samples and higher burnout among HCWs.CONCLUSIONS:
The potential for moral injury is relatively high among combat veterans and COVID-19 HCWs, with deleterious consequences for mental health and burnout. Demographic characteristics suggestive of less social empowerment may increase risk for moral injury. Longitudinal research among COVID-19 HCWs is needed. Moral injury prevention and intervention efforts for HCWs may benefit from consulting models used with veterans.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
/
Veterans
/
Burnout, Professional
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Gen Intern Med
Journal subject:
Internal Medicine
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S11606-022-07487-4
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