Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jan-Dec:60:469580221146841.
doi: 10.1177/00469580221146841.

Psychological Distress of Healthcare Workers in 4 Hospitals Compared to General Population During the First Italian Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic

Gianmarco Russo  1 , Marianna N Vargas  2 , Vittorio Santoro  1 , Maria Ginevra Oriani  2 , Astrid Focosi  3 , Ilaria Capecci  3 , Giuseppe Servillo  1 , Stefania De Simone  4 , Maria Vargas  1
Affiliations

Psychological Distress of Healthcare Workers in 4 Hospitals Compared to General Population During the First Italian Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic

Gianmarco Russo et al. Inquiry. 2023 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

COVID-19 caused important consequences on public health, economy, physical, and mental health of people. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on frontline workers, comparing them with their colleagues who had no contact with the patients and with the general population, by administering an online questionnaire based on the Distress Questionnaire-5 (DQ5). The study was carried out during the first Italian wave of COVID-19 pandemic from 1st to 30th of April. Participants were divided in 3 groups: group 1 is general population group that includes the general population which are quarantined but not isolated, group health care staff not working in COVID-19 hospitals, and group 3 healthcare staff group working in COVID-19 hospitals. The survey was carried with the Distress Questionnaire-5 (DQ5) as a tool to detect the psychological distress and mental health problems. A total of 2983 people participated in this survey. Seven hundred and twenty four out of 1123 (64%) were employers of the 4 hospitals included in this study. Particularly among the respondents, 2259 (75.7%) were general population, 502 (16.8%) were health care staff not working in COVID-19 hospitals, while 222 (7.4%) were health care staff working in covid-19 hospitals. Health care personnel working in COVID-19 hospitals (DQ-5 = 13, 10-16) had less psychological distress compared with health care staff not working in COVID-19 hospitals (DQ-5 = 14, 11-16) and general population (DQ-5 = 14, 11-17; P = .04). The regression model showed that people aged 26 to 35 (OR: 2.06, 95% CI: 1.21-3.48) and female (OR: 2.35, 95% CI: 1.95-2.83) were significantly at risk to develop a DQ-5 ≥ 11. During the first Italian wave of COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare personnel working in COVID-19 hospitals had less psychological distress compared with health care staff not working in COVID-19 hospitals and general population, probably because they were prepared to face situations like outbreak or emergencies.

Keywords: COVID-19; Distress Questionnaire-5 (DQ-5); healthcare workers; psychological distress.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Zanella A, Florio G, Antonelli M, et al.. Time course of risk factors associated with mortality of 1260 critically ill patients with COVID-19 admitted to 24 Italian intensive care units. Intensive Care Med. 2021;47(9):995-1008 - PMC - PubMed
    1. De Giorgio A. COVID-19 is not just a flu. Learn from Italy and act now. Travel Med Infect Dis. 2020;35:101655. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Azizi M, Kamali M, Moosazadeh M, et al.. Assessing mental health status among Iranian healthcare workers in times of the COVID-19 pandemic: a web-based cross-sectional study. Brain Behav. 2021;11(8):e2304. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lu MY, Ahorsu DK, Kukreti S, et al.. The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, sleep problems, and psychological distress among COVID-19 frontline healthcare workers in Taiwan. Front Psychiatry. 2021;12:705657. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Olashore AA, Akanni OO, Fela-Thomas AL, Khutsafalo K. The psychological impact of COVID-19 on health-care workers in African countries: a systematic review. Asian J Soc Health Behav. 2021;4:85-97.