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. 2020 Nov 24;15(11):e0242767.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242767. eCollection 2020.

Emotional health concerns of oncology physicians in the United States: Fallout during the COVID-19 pandemic

Lauren Thomaier  1 , Deanna Teoh  1 , Patricia Jewett  2 , Heather Beckwith  2 , Helen Parsons  3 , Jianling Yuan  4 , Anne H Blaes  2 , Emil Lou  2 , Jane Yuet Ching Hui  5 , Rachel I Vogel  1
Affiliations

Emotional health concerns of oncology physicians in the United States: Fallout during the COVID-19 pandemic

Lauren Thomaier et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Introduction: Cancer care is significantly impacted by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Our objective was to evaluate the early effects of the pandemic on the emotional well-being of oncology providers across the United States and explore factors associated with anxiety and depression symptoms.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered to United States cancer-care physicians recruited over a two-week period (3/27/2020-4/10/2020) using snowball-convenience sampling through social media. Symptoms of anxiety and depression were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4).

Results: Of 486 participants, 374 (77.0%) completed the PHQ-4: median age was 43 years; 63.2% female; all oncologic specialties were represented. The rates of anxiety and depression symptoms were 62.0% and 23.5%, respectively. Demographic factors associated with anxiety included female sex, younger age, and less time in clinical practice. Perception of inadequate personal protective equipment (68.6% vs. 57.4%, p = 0.03) and practicing in a state with more COVID-19 cases (65.8% vs. 51.1%, p = 0.01) were associated with anxiety symptoms. Factors significantly associated with both anxiety and depression included the degree to which COVID-19 has interfered with the ability to provide treatment to cancer patients and concern that patients will not receive the level of care needed for non-COVID-19 illness (all p-values <0.01).

Conclusion: The perceived degree of interference with clinical practice along with personal concerns about COVID-19 were significantly associated with both anxiety and depression among oncology physicians in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings highlight factors associated with and sources of psychological distress to be addressed to protect the well-being of oncology physicians.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Update of

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