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. 2023 Jan;18(1):53-65.
doi: 10.1007/s11739-022-03108-4. Epub 2022 Oct 1.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on well-being of Italian physicians: a report from the Italian Society of Internal Medicine (SIMI) national survey

Giulio Francesco Romiti #  1 , Leonardo Bencivenga #  2   3 , Rosanna Villani  4 , Sebastiano Cicco  5 , Antonio Cimellaro  6 , Andrea Dalbeni  7 , Giovanni Talerico  8 , Antonello Pietrangelo  9 , Giorgio Sesti  10 , Vincenzo Zaccone  11 ; Giovani Internisti SIMI (GIS)
Collaborators, Affiliations

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on well-being of Italian physicians: a report from the Italian Society of Internal Medicine (SIMI) national survey

Giulio Francesco Romiti et al. Intern Emerg Med. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

Over the past few years, COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a high toll worldwide, with a high burden of morbidity and mortality. Healthcare practitioners (HCPs) have been in the frontline since the beginning of the outbreak, and the high level of stress have affected their physical and mental status, as well as their relationships. We aimed at exploring the self-reported changes in comprehensive well-being in a cohort of Italian physicians. An online-based survey was administered to the members of the Italian Society of Internal Medicine (SIMI) between March and June 2021. The survey was based on 32 multiple-choice questions exploring self-reported physical and mental well-being, as well as changes in workloads, work-related feelings and physicians' relationship with patients, colleagues and families. 228 physicians (mean age: 35.7 ± 9.8 years) participated in the survey; 120 (52.6%) were residents, 196 (86.0%) worked in COVID-19 units and 65 (28.5%) had COVID-19 during the pandemic. A significant proportion of respondents reported to have experience onset or worsening of physical and mental symptoms, with insomnia/sleep disorders (58.3%) and mood swings (47.8%) being the most common, respectively. The burden of physical and mental consequences was broadly higher among residents compared to specialists, with the former reporting more frequently an increase in the number of worked hours (p = 0.020) and being more frequently infected with COVID-19 (35.0% vs. 21.3, p = 0.032). Moreover, familiar and doctor-patient relationships were also considerably affected. Physicians have been suffering a wide spectrum of physical, mental and relational consequences during COVID-19 pandemic, with youngest doctors being more likely to present several physical and mental health symptoms. Further studies are needed to evaluate long-term consequences of COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of HCPs, and potential preventive strategies.

Keywords: COVID-19; Healthcare; SARS-CoV-2; Well-being; Work-related stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

None reported.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Physical and psychological symptoms reported by respondents, stratified by their job role (residents vs. specialists). Legend: * denotes significant differences at a < 0.05 p levels. Panel A: Physical symptoms; Panel B: Psychological symptoms
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Physical and psychological symptoms reported by respondents, stratified by having or not worked in COVID-19 wards. Legend: * denotes significant differences at a < 0.05 p levels. Panel A: Physical symptoms; Panel B: Psychological symptoms
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Physical and psychological symptoms reported by respondents, stratified by personal history of COVID-19. Legend: * denotes significant differences at a < 0.05 p levels. Panel A: Physical symptoms; Panel B: Psychological symptoms
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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