[Body image adaptation in health personnel during COVID-19]

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Everything that has contact with the body is also integrated as part of the individual's body image;Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) could be integrated into body image. OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics of the drawing of the human figure as a projective tool of body image in health personnel. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective longitudinal descriptive study was carried out, which consisted of the compilation and analysis of the drawing tests of the human figure performed on health personnel in the contingency of COVID-19. A descriptive analysis of the qualitative variables and an inferential analysis with McNemar's test were carried out to compare proportions between groups. RESULTS: 147 drawings in the previous context and their respective drawings in context during the contingency were included. When comparing both groups, in the pandemic context an increase in distortions or omissions was observed (p = 0.013), mainly located in the hands and arms (p < 0.001). Also, traces suggestive of isolation (p = 0.039), drawings with poor definition of the eyes (p = 0.69), inclusion of PPE (p < 0.001), and omission of the nose (p = 0.011) and mouth (p < 0.001) were observed). CONCLUSIONS: The increase in distortions or omissions may be related to reconstructing the social part. Six months after the start of the contingency, 40% of the health personnel had already incorporated the PPE into their projective drawing of body image.