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. 2024 Apr:334:115800.
doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2024.115800. Epub 2024 Feb 16.

Health service and psychotropic medication use for mental health conditions among healthcare workers active during the Spain Covid-19 Pandemic - A prospective cohort study using web-based surveys

Philippe Mortier  1 , Gemma Vilagut  2 , Helena García-Mieres  2 , Itxaso Alayo  3 , Montse Ferrer  4 , Franco Amigo  2 , Enric Aragonès  5 , Andrés Aragón-Peña  6 , Ángel Asúnsolo Del Barco  7 , Mireia Campos  8 , Meritxell Espuga  9 , Ana González-Pinto  10 , Josep M Haro  11 , Nieves López Fresneña  12 , Alma D Martínez de Salázar  13 , Juan D Molina  14 , Rafael M Ortí-Lucas  15 , Mara Parellada  16 , José Maria Pelayo-Terán  17 , Beatriz Pérez-Gómez  18 , Aurora Pérez-Zapata  19 , José Ignasio Pijoan  20 , Nieves Plana  21 , Elena Polentinos-Castro  22 , Ana Portillo-Van Diest  2 , Teresa Puig  23 , Cristina Rius  24 , Ferran Sanz  25 , Consol Serra  26 , Iratxe Urreta-Barallobre  27 , Ronald C Kessler  28 , Ronny Bruffaerts  29 , Eduard Vieta  30 , Víctor Pérez-Solá  31 , Jordi Alonso  4 ; MINDCOVID Working group
Affiliations
Free article

Health service and psychotropic medication use for mental health conditions among healthcare workers active during the Spain Covid-19 Pandemic - A prospective cohort study using web-based surveys

Philippe Mortier et al. Psychiatry Res. 2024 Apr.
Free article

Abstract

Little is known about healthcare workers' (HCW) use of healthcare services for mental disorders. This study presents data from a 16-month prospective cohort study of Spanish HCW (n = 4,809), recruited shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic onset, and assessed at four timepoints using web-based surveys. Use of health services among HCW with mental health conditions (i.e., those having a positive screen for mental disorders and/or suicidal thoughts and behaviours [STB]) was initially low (i.e., 18.2 %) but increased to 29.6 % at 16-month follow-up. Service use was positively associated with pre-pandemic mental health treatment (OR=1.99), a positive screen for major depressive disorder (OR=1.50), panic attacks (OR=1.74), suicidal thoughts and behaviours (OR=1.22), and experiencing severe role impairment (OR=1.33), and negatively associated with being female (OR = 0.69) and a higher daily number of work hours (OR=0.95). Around 30 % of HCW with mental health conditions used anxiolytics (benzodiazepines), especially medical doctors. Four out of ten HCW (39.0 %) with mental health conditions indicated a need for (additional) help, with most important barriers for service use being too ashamed, long waiting lists, and professional treatment not being available. Our findings delineate a clear mental health treatment gap among Spanish HCW.

Keywords: Attempted suicide; Cohort study; Health care surveys; Mental disorders; Prospective study; Suicidal ideation; Treatments.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest Enric Aragonès reports personal fees from Lündbeck and Esteve. Eduard Vieta reports personal fees from Abbott, Allergan, Angelini, Lundbeck, Sage and Sanofi, grants from Novartis and Ferrer, and grants and personal fees from Janssen, outside the submitted work. José María Pelayo-Terán reports personal fees from Angelini, Janssen and Lunbeck, and grants from Janssen, outside the submitted work. In the past 3 years, Ronald C. Kessler was a consultant for Cambridge Health Alliance, Canandaigua VA Medical Centre, Holmusk, Partners Healthcare, Inc., RallyPoint Networks, Inc., and Sage Therapeutics. He has stock options in Cerebral Inc., Mirah, PYM (Prepare Your Mind), and Roga Sciences. Ana González-Pinto has received grants and served as consultant, advisor or CME speaker for the following entities: Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Alter, Angelini, Exeltis, Novartis, Rovi, Takeda, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CIBERSAM), the Ministry of Science (Carlos III Institute), the Basque Government, and the European Framework Program of Research. All other authors reported no conflict of interest.

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