Background The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the world in early 2020. In France, General Practitioners (GPs) were not involved in the care organization’s decision-making process before and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. This omission could have generated stress for GPs. We aimed first to estimate the self-perception of stress as defined by the 10-item Perceived Stress Score (PSS-10), at the beginning of the pandemic in France, among GPs from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, a french administrative area severely impacted by COVID-19. Second, we aimed to identify factors associated with a self-perceived stress (PSS-10 ≥ 27) among socio-demographic characteristics of GPs, their access to reliable information and to personal protective equipment during the pandemic, and their exposure to well established psychosocial risk at work. Methods We conducted an online cross-sectional survey between 8th April and 10th May 2020. The self-perception of stress was evaluated using the PSS-10, so to see the proportion of “not stressed” (≤20), “borderline” (21 ≤ PSS-10 ≤ 26), and “stressed” (≥27) GPs. The agreement to 31 positive assertions related to possible sources of stress identified by the scientific study committee was measured using a 10-point numeric scale. In complete cases, factors associated with stress (PSS-10 ≥ 27) were investigated using logistic regression, adjusted on gender, age and practice location. A supplementary analysis of the verbatims was made. Results Overall, 898 individual answers were collected, of which 879 were complete. A total of 437 GPs (49%) were stressed (PSS-10 ≥ 27), and 283 GPs (32%) had a very high level of stress (PSS-10 ≥ 30). Self-perceived stress was associated with multiple components, and involved classic psychosocial risk factors such as emotional requirements. However, in this context of health crisis, the primary source of stress was the diversity and quantity of information from diverse sources (614 GPs (69%, OR = 2.21, 95%CI [1.40–3.50], p < 0.001). Analysis of verbatims revealed that GPs felt isolated in a hospital-based model. Conclusion The first wave of the pandemic was a source of stress for GPs. The diversity and quantity of information received from the health authorities were among the main sources of stress.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the world, but also caregiver’s practices. The World Health Organization warned about the stress it could generate for General Practitioners (GPs). In France, GPs were not involved in the decision-making process for organization of care before and during the first COVID-19 wave. Our objective was to estimate the self-perception of stress at the beginning of the pandemic in France, among GPs from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (AuRA), a french administrative area severely impacted by COVID-19, and to identify which factors may have modulated this perception.Methods We conducted an online cross-sectional survey between 8th of April to 10th of May 2020. The self-perception of stress was evaluated using the 10-item Perceived Stress Score (PSS-10). An agreement score developed by the study scientific committee was measured for 31 positive assertion. Factors associated with stress were investigated using logistic regression, and triangulation based on verbatim analysis. Results Overall, 898 individual answers were collected. A total of 437 GPs (49%) were stressed (PSS≥27), and 283 GPs (32%) had a very high level of stress (PSS≥30). Perceived stress was associated with multiple components, and involved classic psychosocial risk factors such as emotional requirements: 415 GPs (49%) were affected by patient anxiety (OR=3.41, 95%CI [1.87-6.36], p<0.001). But in this context of health crisis, the main determinant of GPs’ stress appears to be the diversity and quantity of information from diverse sources (614 GPs (69%, OR=2.21, 95%CI [1.40-3.50], p<0.001). GPs felt isolated in a hospital-based model.Conclusion The first COVID-19 wave was stressful for AuRA’s GPs. One of the main determinants seems to be the diversity and quantity of information received from the health authorities.