COVID-19 and mental distress among health professionals: a cross-sectional survey over eight European countries during the third wave (Preprint)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has so far shown a wave-like course with a significant increase in the number of cases, the associated number of deaths, and the burden on the health system. After the start of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, a third major wave occurred in Europe during autumn and winter 2021/2022, leading to stress related mental health challenges for health professionals.

The aim of this study was to elucidate the mental health of physicians, nurses, and other professional groups in Europe. Moreover, in addition to this, we investigated specific challenges regarding the job related burden of physicians and nurses.

We conducted a cross-sectional online survey during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 8 European countries. We asked for demographic data, whether the participants were exposed to COVID-19 at work or not, and for the main information sources about the pandemic. Mental health was assessed via the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21). A 23-item questionnaire on major stressors was completed by medical professionals. Statistical analyses carried out to find predictors of mental health among health care professionals.

The sample (N=1,398) consisted of 237 physicians, 459 nurses, and 351 participants with further jobs in healthcare and 351 non-medical professionals with no direct involvement in patient care . The mean mental health of all groups was affected to a mild degree. A total of 23.3 % (n=326) report severe or very severe levels of depression, while 18.2% (n=255) express severe or very severe levels of anxiety, and 25.4% (n=355) show severe or very severe levels of stress. Major predictors were profession group for depression and anxiety (DASS-D p=.029; DASS-A p=0.02) with higher scores especially in the group of the nurses and for the group working directly with COVID-patients (DASS-D p=.001; DASS-A p=.026; DASS-S p=.014). Employees of the intensive care units and general inpatient departments showed the highest psychological burden. "Uncertainty about when the epidemic will be under control" was the most important stressor for health care professionals. Ultimately, a higher use of social media correlated with a higher score in the three DASS-21 subscales.

In the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the psychological burden on health professionals has remained high, with nurses in particular being affected. We found as a main result that that nurses scored significantly higher on depression and anxiety than practitioners. These differences were also reflected in the different levels of stressors that we evaluated for nurses and physicians.