Increased risk of health professionals to feel traumatized during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Health professionals may be a vulnerable group to posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. To investigate how health professionals who experienced a traumatic event are expressing PTSS and factors related to risk for higher PTSS symptomatology can inform how health professionals are facing their role in this crisis. This was an Internet cross-sectional survey. Participants were 49,767 Brazilian health professionals who have ever faced a traumatic event, which was about 25.9% of an initial sample of health professionals. PTSS symptoms were assessed using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and latent profile analysis (LPA) explored subpopulations within participants based on their scores. Distinct profiles were compared for psychological distress (e.g., depression and anxiety) and quality of life. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between IES-R profiles and COVID-19 related experiences, thoughts, and perceptions. A two-profile model was the most appropriate for the IES-R data pointing out a group with a high level of PTSS (named high-PTSS; n = 10,401, 20.9%) and another expressing a low level of symptoms (named low-PTSS; n = 39,366, 79.1%). The high-PTSS profile demonstrated worse psychological scores (global psychological distress, somatization, depression, and anxiety) and worse quality of life (physical, psychological, social, and environmental) with moderate magnitudes. Small but significant predictors of the high-PTSS profile included sociodemographic characteristics and COVID-19 related experiences, thoughts, and perceptions. Most individuals who experienced a traumatic event were not in the high-PTSS profile. For those who were, however, psychological and quality of life measures were much worse. During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, several characteristics emerged as risks to report trauma.

A Cross-Sectional Time Course of COVID-19 Related Worry, Perceived Stress, and General Anxiety in the Context of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-like Symptomatology

“…This study found the relationship between PTSD and somatization is probably bidirectional and mutually maintaining, while the maintenance of PTSD and somatization can still be seen more than 20 years after the events which triggered PTSD [ 56 , 57 ]. Finally, our findings of clinically significant levels of somatization in a large proportion of the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic are consistent with previously published studies in the general population and in healthcare professionals [ 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 ]. These factors, combined with the high burden of PTSD-like symptoms coupled with somatization in our study, suggest this psychological burden may persist for years following the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Longitudinal invariance and validity of the Impact of Event Scale–Revised under COVID-19 pandemic in a Brazilian sample.

“…In another study of earthquake survivors, Ozdemir et al (2015) observed a negative relationship between different domains of quality of life and symptoms of PTSD. In a recent study, Braule Pinto et al (2021) evaluated health professionals during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and observed that professionals with a high profile of PTSS had worse levels of quality of life. Thus, the results of our research corroborate previous findings that pointed out to worse levels of quality of life in people with symptoms of posttraumatic stress.…”

“…In addition, epidemiological evidence suggests that sex may be a risk factor for the development of PTSD (APA, 2013), and that women tend to have higher levels of PTSS symptoms compared to men (Braule Pinto et al, 2021). Since our sample was predominantly composed of women, we chose to test the measurement invariance as a function of sex.…”

Decision-making styles during stressful scenarios: The role of anxiety in COVID-19 pandemic

“…So, COVID-19 pandemic can be characterized as a period higher than typical rates of perceived risk ( 23 , 24 ) and psychological distress ( 23 , 25 – 28 ). The rates of post traumatic symptoms and disorders in mixed populations reached 15% of prevalence during SARS and the COVID-19 pandemic including the health care professionals in Brazil ( 29 , 30 ).…”