Psychological distress and sleep problems in healthcare workers in a developing context during COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for workplace wellbeing

Abstract

Background Emotional wellbeing of healthcare workers is critical to the quality of patient care, and effective function of health services. The corona virus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic exerted unique physical and emotional demands on healthcare workers, however little is known about the emotional wellbeing of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in resource-restricted settings. This study investigated the prevalence of psychological distress, and sleep problems in healthcare workers in a COVID-19 referral hospital in Nigeria. Methods A total of 303 healthcare workers were interviewed with the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to evaluate psychological distress, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to assess multidimensional aspects of sleep, including quality, latency, duration, habitual efficiency, disturbances, use of sleeping medications and daytime dysfunction. Results The participants were mostly males, 183(60.4%) and mean age was 38.8(SD = 8.9) years. Most of the participants were married (70.3%), had spent less than 10 years in service (72.9%), and had no medical comorbidity (92.1%). The prevalence of psychological distress was 23.4%, and six in every ten participants reported sleep problems. The largest proportion of participants reported difficulty in sleep latency (81.5%), duration (71.3%), and daytime dysfunction (69.6%), while approximately one third (32%) each reported using sleep medication, and had difficulty with sleep quality. Psychological distress was inter-related with poor sleep problems ( p = 0.001; effect size = 0.2). Conclusion The prevalence rates of psychological distress and sleep problems during the COVID-19 pandemic were several folds the rates previously reported in similar contexts. Preventative psychosocial support services for healthcare workers are indicated. The creation of a culturally-sensitive interdisciplinary blueprint for locally-viable actions model are strongly suggested ahead of future emergency situations.

Reliability and Validity of General Health Questionnaire-12 in Chinese Dental Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…We believe this is the first large-scale use of GHQ-12 to assess the mental health status among dental healthcare workers in China. The positive rate of the mental health status of GHQ-12 was 23.8%, which was close to the healthcare workers in Nigeria (23.4%) ( 48 ), lower than the Chinese neurologists (37.8%) ( 25 ), healthcare workers in Japan (65.6%) ( 49 ), doctors in emergency medicine, anesthesia and intensive care medicine in the UK and Ireland (44.2%) ( 50 ) and obstetrics healthcare providers in Italy (51.1%) ( 51 ). It illustrated that the positive rate of mental health status of dental healthcare workers was relatively low, which could be attributed to the effective containment of COVID-19.…”

The prevalence of insomnia among health care workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic: An umbrella review of meta-analyses

“…Stress has been shown to be one of the main factors contributing to HCW insomnia. The change in normal daily routine, economic uncertainty, and concerns about contracting the COVID-19 have all contributed to increased HCW insomnia [ 11 , 12 ]. According to studies during the COVID-19 pandemic, HCWs serving on the front-line experience more sleep disorders and poorer sleep quality as compared with non-HCWs [ 13 ].…”

Reliability and validity of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index among frontline COVID-19 health care workers using classical test theory and item response theory

“…77 In addition, general negative emotions caused by the pandemic are associated with complaints of daytime functioning and affective symptoms. 10,78,79 However, Rasskazova 80 pointed out that complaints of daytime functioning difficulties depended not so much on the level and content of anxiety but on the level of dysfunction that interferes with everyday activities during the period of COVID-19. Therefore, while applying the PSQI to the frontline COVID-19 medical population, the deletion or modification of the "daytime dysfunction" subscale may be considered.…”

“…1 Several other Chinese studies found that compared with non-frontline or nonmedical staff, the prevalence of sleep disorders in frontline COVID-19 medical staff is higher (16.4%-61.6%), with the epidemic of anxiety and depression. [2][3][4][5][6] Similarly, multiple investigations in Egypt, Turkey, Iran, and other Middle East regions [7][8][9] ; Nigeria; Serbia; other African regions 10,11 ; and Brazil 12 revealed that the proportion of poor sleep in medical staff fighting COVID-19 was greater than 45.7%, and the presence of anxiety features (P < .001) as well as depressive features (P < .001) could be used as significant independent predictors of poor sleep quality. 13 These studies suggest a high incidence of poor sleep in frontline COVID-19 health care workers.…”

“…17 Some characteristics of frontline COVID-19 medical staff, such as a strong work ethic, the large gap between knowledge of sleep and awareness of its importance, workload, and clinical needs, profoundly make their sleep pattern and schedule different, and perhaps there are other potential mechanisms that lead to their sleep disorders. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]18 Therefore, validation of the PSQI in frontline COVID-19 health care workers is warranted and will support it as a clinical tool for this population.…”