Secondary traumatic stress and burnout in healthcare workers during COVID-19 outbreak (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Aims: To assess the level of professional burnout and secondary traumatic stress, and to identify potential risk or protective factors among health care workers (HCWs) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study, based on an online survey, collected demographic data and mental distress outcomes from 184 HCWs from May 1st, 2020, to June,15th, 2020, from 45 different countries. The degree of secondary traumatization was assessed using the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS), the degrees of perceived stress and burnout were assessed with Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Service Survey (MBI-HSS) respectively. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to identify potential risk and protective factors for STS. Results: 184 HCWs (M=90; Age mean 46.45; SD11.02) completed the survey. A considerable proportion of HCWs had symptoms of secondary traumatic stress (41.3%), emotional exhaustion (56.0%), and depersonalization (48.9%). The prevalence of secondary traumatic stress in frontline HCWs was 47.5% while in HCWs working in other units it was 30.3% (p