COVID-19 outbreak-related psychological distress among healthcare trainees: a cross-sectional study in China.
BMJ Open
; 10(10): e041671, 2020 10 20.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-883374
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
The COVID-19 outbreak has caused enormous strain on healthcare systems, and healthcare trainees, which comprise the future healthcare workforce, may be a vulnerable group. It is essential to assess the psychological distress experienced by healthcare trainees during the COVID-19 outbreak. DESIGN, SETTING ANDPARTICIPANTS:
A cross-sectional study with 4184 healthcare trainees at Sichuan University in China was implemented during 7-13 February 2020. Participants were grouped by training programmes (medicine, medical technology and nursing) and training stages (undergraduate, postgraduate and residency). MAINOUTCOMES:
COVID-19-related psychological distress and acute stress reaction (ASR) were assessed using the Kessler 6-item Psychological Distress Scale and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, respectively. We estimated the ORs of distress by comparing trainees across programmes and training stages using multivariable logistic regression.RESULTS:
Significant psychological distress was found in 1150 (30.90%) participants and probable ASR in 403 (10.74%). Compared with the nursing trainees, the medical trainees (OR 1.54, 95% CI 1.22 to 1.95) reported a higher burden of psychological distress during the outbreak, while the medical technology trainees (OR 1.25, 95% CI 0.97 to 1.62) reported similar symptom scores. Postgraduates (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.08) in medicine had higher levels of distress than their undergraduate counterparts did, whereas the nursing residents (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.20 to 0.71) reported a lower burden than did nursing undergraduates. A positive association was found between having active clinical duties during the outbreak and distress (OR 1.17, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.39), particularly among the medical trainees (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.47 to 2.33) and undergraduates (OR 4.20, 95% CI 1.61 to 11.70). No clear risk patterns of ASR symptoms were observed.CONCLUSIONS:
Medical trainees, particularly postgraduates and those with active clinical duties, were at risk for psychological distress during the COVID-19 outbreak. Stress management may be considered for high-risk healthcare trainees.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Stress, Psychological
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Pandemics
/
Betacoronavirus
/
Psychological Distress
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Young adult
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
BMJ Open
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Bmjopen-2020-041671
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