Acute stress of the healthcare workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic evolution: a cross-sectional study in Spain

Mira, José Joaquín; Carrillo, Irene; Guilabert, Mercedes; Mula, Aurora; Martín-Delgado, Jimmy; Pérez-Jover, Virtudes; Vicente, María Asunción; Fernández, C.

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042555

Cited by 79 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…The EASE scale has sufficient sensitivity; the staff in contact with COVID-19 patients had higher levels of acute stress than other staff, as suggested in other studies [22]. When the EASE scale has been used in other studies, it was revealed that the levels of acute stress were higher in the absence of personal protective equipment, when the care pressure was greater, among professionals in critical or emergency units, and, as in this case, in those territories with a greater number of cases [23,24]. Since the current situation (ie, the third wave) seems different from the previous one, the scale's utility in the next 3 to 6 months, after the worst of the current health crisis, should be checked.…”

Section: Principal Findingssupporting

confidence: 67%

An Acute Stress Scale for Health Care Professionals Caring for Patients With COVID-19: Validation Study

Mira¹,

Cobos‐Vargas²,

García³

et al. 2021

JMIR Form Res

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Background The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the response capacity of the health care workforce, and health care professionals have been experiencing acute stress reactions since the beginning of the pandemic. In Spain, the first wave was particularly severe among the population and health care professionals, many of whom were infected. These professionals required initial psychological supports that were gradual and in line with their conditions. Objective In the early days of the pandemic in Spain (March 2020), this study aimed to design and validate a scale to measure acute stress experienced by the health care workforce during the care of patients with COVID-19: the Self-applied Acute Stress Scale (EASE). Methods Item development, scale development, and scale evaluation were considered. Qualitative research was conducted to produce the initial pool of items, assure their legibility, and assess the validity of the content. Internal consistency was calculated using Cronbach α and McDonald ω. Confirmatory factor analysis and the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test were used to assess construct validity. Linear regression was applied to assess criterion validity. Back-translation methodology was used to translate the scale into Portuguese and English. Results A total of 228 health professionals from the Spanish public health system responded to the 10 items of the EASE scale. Internal consistency was .87 (McDonald ω). Goodness-of-fit indices confirmed a two-factor structure, explaining 55% of the variance. As expected, the highest level of stress was found among professionals working in health services where a higher number of deaths from COVID-19 occurred (P<.05). Conclusions The EASE scale was shown to have adequate metric properties regarding consistency and construct validity. The EASE scale could be used to determine the levels of acute stress among the health care workforce in order to give them proportional support according to their needs during emergency conditions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Section: Principal Findingssupporting

confidence: 67%

An Acute Stress Scale for Health Care Professionals Caring for Patients With COVID-19: Validation Study

Mira¹,

Cobos‐Vargas²,

García³

et al. 2021

JMIR Form Res

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A more detailed overview of all investigated outcome measures can be found in Table 1 [ 3 , 8 ▪ , 10 , 11 ▪ , 12 ▪ , 13 , 14 ▪ , 15 – 20 , 21 ▪ , 22 ▪ , 23 , 24 , 25 ▪ , 26 , 27 , 28 ▪ , 29 ▪ , 30 , 31 – 34 ].…”

Section: Other Mental Health Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on healthcare workers: systematic comparison between nurses and medical doctors

Kunz¹,

Strasser

Hasan

2021

Current Opinion in Psychiatry

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“…Moreover, these results show a similar trend con rming the fear of infecting the family and not being able to disconnect at the end of the shift the two consequences most often cited by professionals as signs of distress. The rst study in 4 Latin American countries using this same scale found, among professionals working in primary care, an overall average score of 9.5, slightly lower than that found in this study [23]. When making comparisons it is necessary to consider the incidence of COVID-19 in each of the countries as the level of acute stress has been directly related to care pressure [23].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Psychological distress and associated factors related to COVID-19 pandemic among primary care physicians in Spain (STREPRIC study)

Cebrián-Cuenca

Mira²,

Caride-Miana

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting people in all nations worldwide. In Spain, the epidemic has become especially severe. The lack of protective measures is a major concern and may have caused emotional stress to Primary Care Physicians (PCPs). This study aimed to address the sources of psychological distress among Spanish PCPs during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods This observational, cross sectional study was conducted using a survey questionnaire that consisted of 24 expressions to be answered by PCPs working in family healthcare centres in Spain during the pandemic. A specific scale, the “Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience”, EASE scale was used to determine the distress related to the care of COVID-19 patients among Spanish PCPs. A multivariate linear regression analysis was performed.Results In all, 518 PCPs belonging to different regions of Spain participated in this survey, of which 123 (23.7%) obtained high psychological distress scores. Only half of them had received information about the appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE). PCPs factors associated with higher levels of distress include female gender (1.69; CI 0.54, 2.84); Age (-0.43 (-0.61, 1.48)); working setting (rural) (0.84 (-0.34, 2.01)); lack of training in protective measures (1.96 (0.94, 2.99)). The absence of sick leave among colleagues, increased availability of PPEs, improved cleaning and hygiene conditions in health care centers facilities and the detection of COVID-19 RT-PCR for health care workers were associated with lower levels of distress.Conclusions One in four PCPs rated a high score for psychological distress. The availability of PPEs, training on their use, cleanliness and hygiene conditions in health care facilities and the availability of COVID-19 RT-PCR analyses for health workers, among others, are factors associated with the psychological distress of PCPs.

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Acute stress of the healthcare workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic evolution: a cross-sectional study in Spain

Cited by 79 publications

References 32 publications

An Acute Stress Scale for Health Care Professionals Caring for Patients With COVID-19: Validation Study

An Acute Stress Scale for Health Care Professionals Caring for Patients With COVID-19: Validation Study

Impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on healthcare workers: systematic comparison between nurses and medical doctors

Psychological distress and associated factors related to COVID-19 pandemic among primary care physicians in Spain (STREPRIC study)

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