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. 2022 Jul 1;64(7):e417-e423.
doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000002566. Epub 2022 Jun 16.

Occupational Conditions Associated With Negative Mental Health Outcomes in New York State Health Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Keely Cheslack-Postava  1 , Michaeline Bresnahan, Megan Ryan, George J Musa, Lawrence Amsel, Charles DiMaggio, Howard F Andrews, Ezra Susser, Guohua Li, David M Abramson, Barbara H Lang, Christina W Hoven
Affiliations

Occupational Conditions Associated With Negative Mental Health Outcomes in New York State Health Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Keely Cheslack-Postava et al. J Occup Environ Med. .

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess occupational circumstances associated with adverse mental health among health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A cross-sectional study examined responses to an on-line survey conducted among 2076 licensed health care workers during the first pandemic peak. Mental health (depression, anxiety, stress, and anger) was examined as a multivariate outcome for association with COVID-related occupational experiences.

Results: Odds of negative mental health were increased among those who worked directly with patients while sick themselves (adjusted odds ratio, 2.29; 95% confidence interval, 1.71-3.08) and were independently associated with working more hours than usual in the past 2 weeks, having family/friends who died due to COVID-19, having COVID-19 symptoms, and facing insufficiencies in personal protective equipment/other shortages.

Conclusions: Occupational circumstances were associated with adverse mental health outcomes among health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and some are potentially modifiable.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the association between continued work in patient care while sick with COVID-19 symptoms and negative mental health, among New York State health care workers between April 28 and June 30, 2020. Estimates are adjusted for sex, age, profession, specialty, and usual work location in the NYC metropolitan area, relative number of hours worked in the past 2 weeks, having family/friends who died due to COVID-19, being involved in triage decisions, PPE shortages, and other shortages.
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