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. 2023 Jan 1;277(1):50-56.
doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000004775. Epub 2021 Jan 22.

Psychological Health of Surgeons in a Time of COVID-19: A Global Survey

Yi Quan Tan  1 , Ziting Wang  1 , Qai Ven Yap  2 , Yiong Huak Chan  2 , Roger C Ho  3 , Agus Rizal Ardy Hariandy Hamid  4 , Aitor Landaluce-Olavarria  5 , Gianluca Pellino  6 , Vineet Gauhar  7 , Manish Chand  8 , Marcelo Langer Wroclawski  9 , Bm Zeeshan Hameed  10 , Samuel Ka-Kin Ling  11 , Shomik Sengupta  12 , Gaetano Gallo  13 , Peter Ka-Fung Chiu  14 , Yiloren Tanidir  15 , M Pilar Villanova Tallada  16 , Bernardo Nunez Garcia  17 , Ramiro Colleoni  18 , Zainal Adwin Zainal Abiddin  19 , Riccardo Campi  20 , Francesco Esperto  21 , Diego Carrion  22 , Dean Elterman  23 , Amanda Shu Jun Chung  24 , Anthony Chi Fai Ng  14 , Marco Moschini  25 , Juan Gomez Rivas  22 , Julio Mayol  26 , Jeremy Yuen-Chun Teoh  14 , Edmund Chiong  1   27 ; SoMe4Surgery working group Collaborators
Collaborators, Affiliations

Psychological Health of Surgeons in a Time of COVID-19: A Global Survey

Yi Quan Tan et al. Ann Surg. .

Abstract

Objective: To assess the degree of psychological impact among surgical providers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Summary of background data: The COVID-19 pandemic has extensively impacted global healthcare systems. We hypothesized that the degree of psychological impact would be higher for surgical providers deployed for COVID-19 work, certain surgical specialties, and for those who knew of someone diagnosed with, or who died, of COVID-19.

Methods: We conducted a global web-based survey to investigate the psychological impact of COVID-19. The primary outcomes were the depression anxiety stress scale-21 and Impact of Event Scale-Revised scores.

Results: A total of 4283 participants from 101 countries responded. 32.8%, 30.8%, 25.9%, and 24.0% screened positive for depression, anxiety, stress, and PTSD respectively. Respondents who knew someone who died of COVID-19 were more likely to screen positive for depression, anxiety, stress, and PTSD (OR 1.3, 1.6, 1.4, 1.7 respectively, all P < 0.05). Respondents who knew of someone diagnosed with COVID-19 were more likely to screen positive for depression, stress, and PTSD (OR 1.2, 1.2, and 1.3 respectively, all P < 0.05). Surgical specialties that operated in the head and neck region had higher psychological distress among its surgeons. Deployment for COVID- 19-related work was not associated with increased psychological distress.

Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic may have a mental health legacy outlasting its course. The long-term impact of this ongoing traumatic event underscores the importance of longitudinal mental health care for healthcare personnel, with particular attention to those who know of someone diagnosed with, or who died of COVID-19.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Global heat map of the mean DASS-21 score.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Global heat map of the overall IES-R score.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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