Long-Term Trajectory and Risk Factors of Healthcare Workers' Mental Health during COVID-19 Pandemic: A 24 Month Longitudinal Cohort Study.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
; 20(5)2023 03 04.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2258835
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Research has shown the substantial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers' (HCWs) mental health, however, it mostly relies on data collected during the early stages of COVID-19. The aim of this study is to assess the long-term trajectory of HCWs' mental health and the associated risk factors.METHODS:
a longitudinal cohort study was carried out in an Italian hospital. At Time 1 (July 2020-July 2021), 990 HCWs took part in the study and completed the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), the Impact of Event Scale (IES-R), and the General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7)questionnaire. McNemar's test measured changes in symptoms' trajectories, and random effects models evaluated risk factors associated with scores above the cut-off.RESULTS:
310 HCWs participated to the follow-up evaluation (Time 2; July 2021-July 2022). At Time 2, scores above cut-offs were significantly lower (p < 0.001) than at Time 1 for all scales (23% vs. 48% for GHQ-12; 11% vs. 25% for IES-R; 15% vs. 23% for GAD-7). Risk factors for psychological impairment were being a nurse (IES-R OR 4.72, 95% CI 1.71-13.0; GAD-7 OR 2.82, 95% CI 1.44-7.17), a health assistant (IES-R OR 6.76, 95% CI 1.30-35.1), or having had an infected family member (GHQ-12 OR 1.95, 95% CI 1.01-3.83). Compared to Time 1, gender and experience in COVID-19 units lost significance with psychological symptoms.CONCLUSIONS:
data over more than 24 months from the pandemic onset showed improvement of HCWs' mental health; our findings suggested the need to tailor and prioritize preventive actions towards healthcare workforce.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pandemics
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ijerph20054586
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