Concern for the Emotional Health of COVID-19 Frontline Healthcare Providers

Concern for the emotional health of COVID-19 frontline healthcare providers has evolved beyond theoretical into empirical. The findings of a study done in April 2020 at the hospitals of The Istituto Auxologico Italiano in Lombardy and Piedmont, Italy, showed significant self-reported emotional distress among 385 direct-care COVID-19 healthcare providers. Among those workers, 26.8% had clinical levels of depression, 36.7% reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and 26% had symptoms of depersonalization. In a January 2020 survey study of 764 nurses and 493 physicians working in 34 hospitals where COVID-19 patients were treated throughout China, 50.4% of the study participants reported symptoms of depression, 44.6% reported symptoms of generalized anxiety and 34% reported insomnia. In this particular study, depression symptoms were more common in nurses vs. physicians, anxiety was greater in women vs. men and insomnia was greater in frontline vs. non-frontline workers.

Studies of the psychological impact of COVID-19 on American healthcare personnel are less prolific than those in other countries, but there are many studies ongoing, including one for UPMC healthcare workers. Presently, the largest published mental health survey of COVID-19 healthcare providers in the United States is a cross-sectional web survey of 657 physicians, advanced practice providers, residents, fellows, and nurses, conducted during a peak of inpatient admissions for COVID-19 from April 9 to April 24th, 2020, at a large medical center in New York City. Symptoms of acute stress were reported by 57%, depressive symptoms were reported by 48% and anxiety symptoms were reported by 33%. Three of every four healthcare workers were highly distressed by fears about transmitting COVID-19 to family or friends, and most were extremely concerned about having to maintain social distance from family members.