Violence against health personnel before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: Violence in the workplace has been an alarming phenomenon around the world. The aim of this study was to analyze the frequency of violence against health personnel in urgent and emergency departments, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This is an exploratory cross-sectional study including a structured online survey with the approval of the Research Ethics Committee. The sample was composed of health personnel over 18 years old who work in urgent and emergency departments. The survey was structured with sections: sociodemographic data, detailing of occupational data, and a survey of physical, verbal, sexual, and racial violence. Descriptive statistics included absolute frequencies and percentages for categorical variables and means with standard deviation for continuous variables. RESULTS: A total of 114 participants, aged between 20 and 60 years, answered the questionnaire; 68.4% of them were women. Most of them were white (71.9%), married or living with a partner (70.2%), residing in the south or southeast regions (85.1%) of Brazil, 56.1% doctors, 11.4% nurses, and 12.3% nursing technicians. The incidence of violence before the COVID-19 pandemic was 60%. During the pandemic, the incidence suffered low variation, being 57.9%. Only 37.7% said that their workplace offers some procedure/routine to report acts of violence suffered at work. Verbal violence was the most reported among the participants. Anxiety, tiredness, fear, low self-esteem, loss of concentration, and stress are the most frequent consequences of aggression. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic did not potentiate the episodes of violence; however, episodes of violence continue to occur, and so management and prevention measures must be implemented.

Violence against health personnel before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: Violence in the workplace has been an alarming phenomenon around the world. The aim of this study was to analyze the frequency of violence against health personnel in urgent and emergency departments, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This is an exploratory cross-sectional study including a structured online survey with the approval of the Research Ethics Committee. The sample was composed of health personnel over 18 years old who work in urgent and emergency departments. The survey was structured with sections: sociodemographic data, detailing of occupational data, and a survey of physical, verbal, sexual, and racial violence. Descriptive statistics included absolute frequencies and percentages for categorical variables and means with standard deviation for continuous variables. RESULTS: A total of 114 participants, aged between 20 and 60 years, answered the questionnaire; 68.4% of them were women. Most of them were white (71.9%), married or living with a partner (70.2%), residing in the south or southeast regions (85.1%) of Brazil, 56.1% doctors, 11.4% nurses, and 12.3% nursing technicians. The incidence of violence before the COVID-19 pandemic was 60%. During the pandemic, the incidence suffered low variation, being 57.9%. Only 37.7% said that their workplace offers some procedure/routine to report acts of violence suffered at work. Verbal violence was the most reported among the participants. Anxiety, tiredness, fear, low self-esteem, loss of concentration, and stress are the most frequent consequences of aggression. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic did not potentiate the episodes of violence; however, episodes of violence continue to occur, and so management and prevention measures must be implemented.

Violência mental: ansiedade e depressão durante a pandemia de COVID-19 no Brasil / Mental violence: anxiety and depression during COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil

Buscou-se avaliar a frequência de ansiedade e depressão e seus fatores associados ao longo da pandemia de COVID-19. Estudo transversal exploratório envolvendo 1.057 participantes, sendo aplicados os questionários GAD-7 e PHQ-9, através de Plataforma Google Forms, com amostragem bola de neve. A média de idade foi de 38 ± 14 anos, sendo 78% mulheres, provindos de 21 Estados brasileiros. Quarenta e dois por cento dos participantes tiveram escore GAD-7 ≥ 10, cerca de 53% teve escore PHQ-9 ≥ 10. Principais fatores de risco incluíram: gênero feminino, ser jovem, casado ou com companheiro, consumir bebidas alcoólicas, problemas psiquiátricos prévios, utilizar medicação para dormir, dormir menos de 8 horas, percepção negativa sobre COVID-19, estar em isolamento social, pesadelos frequentes e ideação suicida. O Brasil mantém-se com altos níveis de ansiedade e depressão durante a pandemia em associação com ideação suicida.

Anxiety and depression disorders are associated with professional and academic impairment and reduced life quality. Frequency of symptoms of anxiety and depression, and their association with health risk behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic are evaluated. Cross-sectional study comprised 1,057 participants, 78% females, mean age 38±14 years, from 21 different Brazilian states. GAD-7 and PHQ-9 inventories were applied by Google Forms, with snowball sampling. Forty-two percent of the participants had a GAD-7 score ≥ 10, while 53% had a PHQ-9 score ≥ 10. Main risk factors comprised: being female, young, married or with partner, consuming alcoholic beverages, having previous psychiatric problems, taking sleeping pills, sleeping less than 8 hours, having a negative perception about COVID-19, staying isolated, having frequent nightmares and suicide thoughts. Brazil is a country featuring high levels of symptoms of anxiety and depression, significantly associated with suicide thoughts.