Psychological distress experienced by physicians and nurses at a tertiary care center in Lebanon during the COVID-19 outbreak

Bizri, Maya; Kassir, Ghida; Tamim, Hani; Kobeissy, Firas; Hayek, Samer El

doi:10.1177/1359105321991630

Cited by 25 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…In the present survey, dental students showed an overall normal or mild psychological impact of the pandemic on anxiety, stress, depression, intrusion, hyperarousal and avoidance, as assessed by the explained survey instruments. This displays a discrepancy to the outcomes of similar studies on healthcare professionals and dental or medical students in other non-European countries, which showed higher levels of psychological distress [4,6,[24][25][26][27][28], and could represent the psychological significance of Germany's claimed success in containing COVID-19 infection rates through introducing new safety regulations in health and educational institutions, stabilizing its population's financial situation throughout the crisis, and communicating the reasons for its emergency policies [6,[29][30][31]. Furthermore, several variables distressing students in German universities throughout the outbreak appear to actively participate in the development of stress-, anxiety-, depressionand PTSD-associated symptoms.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 81%

Dental Students in Germany throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Psychological Assessment and Cross-Sectional Survey

Mekhemar

Attia

Dörfer

et al. 2021

Biology

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Multiple investigations have reported high psychological distress among students since the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak started. This survey examined the associations between psychological features, and several demographic and social factors among dental students in German universities. Dental students registered in German universities nationwide were asked to join this survey via a self-directed online questionnaire, from July 2020 to January 2021. This study assembled data on demographic statistics, the depression anxiety stress scales (DASS-21), and the impact of events scale—revised (IES-R) instrument. The relationships between demographic-related variables and mental consequences of depression, anxiety, stress, intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal were inspected. Two hundred and eleven students contributed to the questionnaire and conveyed overall normal or mild outcomes of depression, anxiety, stress, intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal. In addition, female gender, cardiovascular diseases, smoking habits, and seeing the COVID-19 outbreak as a financial risk were stated as significant related factors (p < 0.05), with increased IES-R and DASS-21 scores. These results highlight the features that should be considered to better protect dental students’ mental health in German universities during the crisis.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 81%

Dental Students in Germany throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Psychological Assessment and Cross-Sectional Survey

Mekhemar

Attia

Dörfer

et al. 2021

Biology

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“…In addition, the increased risk of exposure is likely to contribute to stress, burnout and mental health problems amongst HCWs, many of whom live with vulnerable and older adults. 12 Exacerbated by severe shortage of electricity of at least 20 h per day in hospitals, and a primary reliance on generators has rendered them nearly non‐functional. 13 Concurrently, the income of physicians is estimated to have declined by more than 80%, and some medical staff have lost up to 90%, due to the COVID‐19 pandemic and currency devaluation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a recent cross‐sectional study on pandemic‐related psychological distress among HCWs in a Lebanese tertiary care medical center, about half of the participants showed a high risk of acute distress (58.7%) on the GHQ‐28. 12 The nature of their work puts them at higher risk of developing psychological distress, especially during COVID‐19. 16 , 17 A cross‐sectional study was conducted among HCWs at a tertiary hospital in Lebanon between June and July 2020.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental health impacts of Lebanon's economic crisis on healthcare workers amidst COVID‐19

Islam

Gangat

Mohanan

et al. 2021

Health Planning & Management

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Lebanon, identified as a Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV) state by the World Bank, is enduring one of the world's worst economic crises since the mid-19th century. 1 Also known as the Lebanese Republic, it is one of the most densely populated countries in the Mediterranean area bound northeast by Syria, and south by Israel. 1,2 In 2020, GDP shrunk by 20.3% amounting to US$33 billion loss, whereas GDP per capita decreased by 40%. 1 Additionally, inflation has averaged to 84.3%. 1 This economic crisis is projected to be worse in 2021 with an expected 9.5% contraction in GDP. 1 Coupled with a 6.7% decrease in GDP in 2019 and a loss of US$55 billion in 2018, the economic impacts are catastrophic, especially for healthcare workers (HCW). 1 Besides this, the Lebanese pound has lost 81% value since 2019, 3 marking high inflation all whilst coping with a pandemic, recovering from the Beirut Port explosion, and experiencing social unrest. 4 The Beirut Port explosion, which rendered half of the capital's healthcare centres non-functional brought new challenges to health care. 4 Not only this, poverty has increased by 27% from 2019 to 2020. 3 Fiscal mismanagement, a weak healthcare system, inflation, higher rates of poverty, social unrest, scarcity of resources, increasing workload and previous traumas have challenged HCWs trying to battle a pandemic in Lebanon, severely affecting their mental health. 3 Since 2019, 1000 of 15,000 doctors have left Lebanon to neighbouring Iraq and other countries, and alone at American University Beirut Medical Centre in Beirut, 40% emergency staff and 50% nurses have left. 5 As a result of this crisis, HCWs are experiencing a deduction in their salary that amounts to a couple thousand dollars a year. 5 A country that primarily relies on import (80% of medications in Lebanon are imported), the crisis has impacted availability of essential healthcare equipment, and has exacerbated workload for HCWs grappling with financial stress, and insecurity further fuelling their anxieties and contributing to burnout. [4][5][6] In addition, there are only 40 HCWs per 10 ,000 people in Lebanon, reported in 2018 prior to the economic crisis, which contrasts with WHO's requirement of 4.45 HCWs per 1000 people. 3 Mental health needs are poorly addressed as there are only 60 psychiatrists and 100 psychologists per 4 million people, and the country has no national mental health policy. 6 This not only complicates availability of mental health services, it creates issues for a healthcare system that is rapidly losing all its frontline workers. 3 Thus, the aim of this paper is to address the mental health crisis faced by HCWs in Lebanon, the implications of it and provide some recommendations. | DISCUSSIONMajority of the Lebanese people including frontline healthcare workers, elderly, juveniles and grownups suffer from alarming levels of anxiety and stress due to occasional periods of violence, specifically bombings in civilian areas, and political and economic instability. 7 Such pre-existing challenges h...

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“…Many studies have investigated the high prevalence of pandemic-related negative psychological outcomes among healthcare workers. Bizri et al (2021) examined psychological distress among 150 healthcare workers in a tertiary care medical centre in Lebanon. Using an online questionnaire, more than half of the workers showed a high risk of acute distress (58.7%) while most (89.3%) scored low/moderate stress.…”

Section: New Findings On Covid-19 Protective Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological homeostasis and protective behaviours in the COVID-19 pandemic

Marks¹

2022

J Health Psychol

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Since the first case of human SARS-CoV-2 infection late in 2019 workers across multiple disciplines have been strenuously engaged in attempting to prevent the spread of the virus and to provide care to patients. Never in history has so much human effort been concentrated on a single health trauma. Much of the new research is empirical in nature with relatively few strands of theory. This article focuses on two recent theories relevant to COVID-19 protective behaviours, the COM-B and the General Theory of Behaviour. New empirical findings on the means, motives and opportunities for COVID-19 protective behaviours improve our knowledge and capacity to cope with pandemics using psychological homeostasis.

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Psychological distress experienced by physicians and nurses at a tertiary care center in Lebanon during the COVID-19 outbreak

Cited by 25 publications

References 72 publications

Dental Students in Germany throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Psychological Assessment and Cross-Sectional Survey

Dental Students in Germany throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Psychological Assessment and Cross-Sectional Survey

Mental health impacts of Lebanon's economic crisis on healthcare workers amidst COVID‐19

Psychological homeostasis and protective behaviours in the COVID-19 pandemic

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