Psychological Impact of COVID-19 on Occupational Therapists: An Online Survey in Japan

Abstract

Importance: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a severe psychological impact on frontline and second-line medical workers. However, few empirical reports have been published on its impact on occupational therapists. Clarifying the mental health status of occupational therapists is important to maintain care quality and prevent psychological problems in this population.Objective: To investigate the psychological impact of COVID-19 on Japanese occupational therapists in prefectures with and without severe pandemic-related restrictions and elucidate factors associated with psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Design: A cross-sectional online survey using region-stratified two-stage cluster sampling conducted May 28-31, 2020.Participants: The sample included 371 participants (63.1% women) in the prefectures under specific cautions (i.e., where residents were strictly advised to refrain from outings) and 1,312 in the prefectures without such cautions (61.9% women). Results:The increase in workload due to the pandemic was significantly related to an increase in anxiety, depression, and insomnia, and an attempt to avoid talking face to face with others was significantly related to an increase in anxiety regardless of area. In prefectures under specific cautions as of May 25, 2020, the provision of sufficient information on COVID-19 by the workplace significantly reduced the risk of insomnia. In other prefectures, the provision of sufficient information significantly reduced the risk of depression.Conclusions and Relevance: These results demonstrate the severe negative psychological impact of the increase in workload resulting from COVID-19 and suggest the importance of psychological support for occupational therapists, such as the provision of sufficient information by the workplace.

Different Impacts of COVID-19 on Quality of Therapy, Psychological Condition, and Work Life Among Occupational Therapists in Physical and Mental Health Fields

“…Based on our previous study (6), we focused on differences in field-specific impacts on the psychological aspects of anxiety, depression, insomnia, and loneliness. To assess each psychological aspect, we used four validated questionnaires: the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) (28), Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) (29), Japanese version of the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI-J) (30,31) and Japanese version of the three-item loneliness scale (TILS) (32).…”

“…The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on society and led to a dramatic loss of human life worldwide, presenting a unique challenge to public health and socioeconomic welfare (1,2). The repeated waves of COVID-19 outbreaks have resulted in social isolation (2), loss of accessibility (3), economic crises (4), substance abuse (5), and deterioration of the working environment (4,(6)(7)(8), which are reported to be closely related to the mental health of citizens and workers. In particular, many previous studies have reported and heavy workload on OTs, no study has investigated the differences in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on work life among OTs working in different fields.…”

Quality of therapy and mental health among occupational therapists during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Psychological impacts of COVID-19 on second-line healthcare professionals have been documented (5)(6)(7)(8). Occupational therapists are classified as second-line medical professionals who do not directly care for patients with COVID-19 during the early stages (9).…”

“…The increased workload and working hours negatively impact mental health conditions (6,(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). For example, previous literature showed that workload is positively related to depression and that its relationship was mediated by emotional distress (29), and long working hours are also associated with depression (31) and further associated with poor patient safety and decreased care quality (30).…”

“…Occupational therapists are classified as second-line medical professionals who do not directly care for patients with COVID-19 during the early stages ( 9 ). However, the work environment has changed due to the current pandemic, and this has had a negative impact on their mental health ( 6 , 9 ). Although such psychological stress can negatively affect therapy quality and lead to client dissatisfaction ( 10 ), little is known about the relationship between mental health problems and the therapy quality of occupational therapists.…”