Comparison of emotional approaches of medical doctors against COVID‐19 pandemic: Eastern and Western Mediterranean countries

Abstract

Background Pandemics are states of disease that occur worldwide and sharply increase in populations. It causes life events which trigger anxiety, depression, anger, sleep deprivation, emotional distress and stress. World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) a pandemic on March 11, pointing to the over 118,000 cases in over 110 countries. Many healthcare workers became ill during the pandemic and some among them died. In this study, we aimed to evaluate and compare level of stress against COVID‐19 pandemic among doctors from Turkey and Italy. Methods This research is a cross‐sectional study in which Perceived Stress Scale (PSS‐10) and Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS) are administered online via social networks. All data collection tools were delivered to individuals between 1 and 15 June 2020 and filled in online with Google Forms application. In total, 618 individuals were included in this study and all of them were medical doctors. Results Higher PS and STS levels were found related to female gender, being married, working in pandemic hospital and older ages. Stress levels were found statistically higher in Turkish doctors when compared to Italian doctors for both stress scales (Turkish/Italian PSS:20.18 ± 7.90/ 19.35 ± 6.71, STSS: 44.19 ± 13.29/ 38.83 ± 13.74). Conclusion The number of doctors per 1000 of population is lower and per capita visits to a physician are higher in Turkey when compared to Italy. Besides pandemic, these heavier working conditions, increased weekly working hours can cause stress for Turkish doctors. Reporting information such this study is important and international collaborations are essential to plan future prevention strategies. We need to strengthen international ties and build more international collaborations rather than staying within our national silos. Additionally, interventions to promote mental well‐being in health care professionals exposed to COVID‐19 need to be immediately implemented.

Effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on the Well-Being, Burnout and Stress of Italian Healthcare Professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…While it is reasonable that the prolongation of the pandemic and the discomfort associated with the use of personal protective equipment, the difficulty of moving around and the limitation of essential physical needs may increase the distress, we did not observe any significant change in the baseline distress levels in the different analysis periods before and after the onset of the pandemic. Furthermore, the baseline moderate levels of distress observed in HCPs after the onset of the pandemic are also in agreement with other previously published data observed in Italian physicians during the COVID-19 period [ 24 , 31 ]. We did not notice any significant increase in baseline distress over time, which therefore appeared more affected by work-related distress than the pandemic in the study participants.…”

“…The scale values range from 0 to 40, with a higher score indicating a higher degree of subjective stress. Total scores 0–13 would be considered low PS, 14–26 as moderate PS, and 27–40 as high PS [ 24 ].…”

Compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction among Romanian emergency medicine personnel

“…Contrary to our expectations based on previous literature ( 37 , 54 , 58 ), our results indicated that war threats did not predict any dimension of professional quality of life. However, in accordance with previous empirical findings ( 39 , 40 , 42 ), perceived threats related to the pandemic positively predicted secondary traumatic stress.…”

“…These threats have been found to be positively associated with secondary traumatic stress ( 36 ). The pandemic has generated concerns about personal and family health, particularly among healthcare workers who are at a higher risk of contracting and spreading the disease to their family members compared to non-healthcare workers ( 37 , 38 ).…”

“…The threats posed by the conflict in Ukraine have spread to other regions of the world, generating fear, and having a negative impact on the quality of life, particularly in countries closer to military conflicts with the potential to worsen ( 53 , 54 ). Although exposure to the war was secondary, perceived subjective threat may be a similar or even stronger predictor of stress reactions compared to objective life events ( 37 ). Previous empirical evidence has shown that physical proximity to a disaster (e.g., the 2011 Oslo bombing) was related to more posttraumatic stress symptoms (e.g., 55 – 58 ).…”