Risk Perception and Worries among Health Care Workers in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from an Italian Survey

Abstract

The ongoing pandemic scenario, due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has had a considerable impact on public health all over the world. Italy was one of the most affected countries, as the first European full-blown outbreak occurred there. The exposure of the Italian health care workers to COVID-19 may be an important risk factor for psychological distress. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to describe worries and risk perception of being infected among Italian Health Care Workers (HCWs) during the first wave of the pandemic. In total, 2078 HCWs participated in a web survey (78.8% were females). The highest percentage of respondents were physicians (40.75%) and nurses (32.15%), followed by medical (18.00%), health care support (4.50%) and administrative (4.60%) staff. In a score range between 0 (not worried) and 4 (very worried), our results showed that participants declared that they were worried about the Coronavirus infection with a median score of 3 (IQR 2-3) and for 59.19% the risk perception of being infected was very high. In addition, HCWs reported they suffered from sleep disturbances (63.43%). From the analysis of the psychological aspect, a possible divergence emerged between the perceived need for psychological support (83.85%) and the relative lack of this service among health care providers emerged (9.38%). Our findings highlight the importance of psychological and psychiatric support services not only during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also in other emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) scenarios. These services may be useful for health authorities and policymakers to ensure the psychological well-being of health care professionals and to promote precautionary behaviors among them.

Worry, Severity, Controllability, and Preventive Behaviours of COVID-19 and Their Associations with Mental Health of Turkish Healthcare Workers Working at a Pandemic Hospital

“…These suggest that HCWs who struggle to cope with pandemic-related stressors in adaptive ways, by experiencing more worries and severity of the disease and less perceived control of the disease, may be more vulnerable to developing the symptoms of mental health problems and poor subjective well-being. These findings are in line with other recent studies that have presented the roles of worry, severity, and controllability in contributing to mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic (de Zwart et al 2009 ; Puci et al 2020 ; Yıldırım et al 2020a ; Yıldırım and Güler 2020 ).…”

“…The rates of worry are high among HCWs during the pandemic. Puci et al ( 2020 ) identified the levels of worries among Italian HCWs and found that HCWs were worried about the COVID-19 infection with a median score of 3, measured on a score ranging between 0 (not worried) and 4 (very worried). Higher levels of COVID-19 related worry were also found to be associated with greater mental health disorders and resilience and meaning in life mediated the impact of COVID-19 related worry on mental health disorders (Yıldırım et al 2020a ).…”

Lessons From the First Wave of COVID-19: Work-Related Consequences, Clinical Knowledge, Emotional Distress, and Safety-Conscious Behavior in Healthcare Workers in Switzerland

“…However, these analyses were not differentiated across professions/fields, and therefore no results specific to healthcare workers or students of health professions were available. Puci et al (2020) showed that the risk perception of getting infected with COVID-19 was high among Italian healthcare workers. They also reported sleep disturbances in 64% of the participants, and that 84% perceived a need for psychological support.…”

Healthcare workers’ knowledge, risk perception, safety-relevant practices, and work situation during the COVID-19 pandemic: A quantitative survey from Switzerland

“…Nevertheless, a few notable exceptions to this have been provided as follows. Puci et al [11] provided evidence of high perceived risk of getting infected with COVID-19 among Italian healthcare workers, as well as of sleep disturbances (64%) and a high demand for psychological support (84%). Spiller et al [12] assessed anxiety and depression within a sample of Swiss healthcare workers, however found no substantial effects caused by COVID-19.…”