Occupational psychosocial stressors and mental distress among healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Objective To analyze the factors associated with mental distress among health workers who cared for patients with a suspected or confirmed diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods A cross-sectional analytical study of national scope, carried out between in the second quarter of 2020. A total of 437 health professionals, who filled out an electronic form about sociodemographic data, occupational aspects, psychosocial characteristics of work and mental distress. Multiple logistic regression was performed to analyze the covariables associated with mental distress. Results There was a predominance of workers on the nursing team (65.0%), female (71.0%), from Southeastern region of the country (68.6%) and with no morbidities (36.2%). The prevalence of mental distress was 61.6%. Job strain was reported by 24% of participants, and the perception of low support from coworkers was described by 52.9%. The final multiple regression model showed that mental distress was associated with females (odds ratio - OR: 1.93; 95%CI: 1.22-3.07), age up to 40 years (OR: 1.64; 95%CI: 1.07-2.52), weekly working hours equal or over 60 hours (OR: 1.87; 95%CI: 1.15-3.11), job strain (OR: 2.45; 95%CI: 1.41-4.40) and low support from co-workers (OR: 3.47; 95%CI: 2.26-5.38). Conclusion Six out of ten participants presented mental distress, which was associated to both individual characteristics and factors related to the work carried out during the pandemic. There is an urgent need to map services that have such characteristics, to outline actions to promote mental health and prevent emotional distress at different levels of health care.

COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of Health Effects on Emergency Service Nursing Workers via a Qualitative Approach

“…It has become fundamentally important to think carefully about introducing effective measures to promote and protect nursing workers’ health in light of the challenges experienced in combating COVID-19 and the diversity of situations posed in Brazil [ 3 , 32 ]. It has also become essential to examine the perceptions of these workers, especially those working directly on the frontline in crisis scenarios in which the risk of infection is real and should be managed in such a way as to protect the workers involved [ 2 , 5 ].…”

“…The literature shows that large numbers of health workers were infected by the coronavirus because healthcare-associated transmission was favored by inadequate protection. Among those workers, nursing was one of the health profession categories most affected by COVID-19 [ 4 , 5 ].…”

The impact of leadership on perceived work-related stress in healthcare facilities organisations

“…, 2021); monitoring, screening for mental health problems among health workers and providing referrals when necessary (Saragih et al. , 2021; Silva-Junior et al. , 2021).…”

“…Several solutions have been offered to contain the level of perceived stress among health workers, such as implementing measures to improve social support (Aydın et al, 2021;Nicolaou et al, 2021); introducing stress management programmes (Conti et al, 2021); monitoring, screening for mental health problems among health workers and providing referrals when necessary (Saragih et al, 2021;Silva-Junior et al, 2021). However, to the best of our knowledge, no other research has investigated the role of leadership in containing workrelated stress in the healthcare sector affected by the current pandemic.…”

The biopsychosocial impacts caused by Covid-19: A literature review

“…Nesse sentido, Silva-Junior et al (2021) argumentam que, durante a pandemia da COVID-19, os serviços de atendimentos dos pacientes sofreram mudanças organizacionais e ambientais abruptas, resultando em grandes alterações nas rotinas dos profissionais de saúde. Uma grande consequência foi o aumento exponencial da carga de trabalho, juntamente com a escassez infraestrutural enfrentada nos mais diversos níveis de atenção.…”