Abstract
BackgroundThe effect of COVID-19 on Health-Care Professionals’ mental health has received increased attention in the last year’s literature. However, previous studies essentially evaluated psychopathological symptoms and not the presence of positive mental health. Therefore, the first objective of the present research is to evaluate health-care professionals’ mental illness (i.e., anxiety and traumatic intensity) and positive mental health (i.e., well-being) using the Complete State Model of Health. Our second objective is to study the effect of Personal Protection Equipment availability on professionals’ mental health.MethodsTwo-hundred and thirty-two health-care professionals working in Spain in the first line of COVID-19 patient care participated in the study. To measure anxiety, traumatic intensity and well-being participants completed the State Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Davidson Trauma Scale, and the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form. Pearson correlations were used to examine the relationships between all scales. In order to test the two continua model of mental health, we used parallel analysis and exploratory factor analysis. To analyze anxiety, traumatic intensity, and well-being differences between health-care professionals with and without Personal Protection Equipment availability we conducted different ANOVAS. To test our hypothesis regarding the moderating role of Personal Protection Equipment availability in the effect of mental illness on positive mental health, data were subjected to a hierarchical regression analysis.ResultsAs in previous studies, health-care professionals showed high levels of anxiety and traumatic intensity. They also presented low levels of well-being indicators. According to our hypothesis, results of parallel analysis and exploratory factorial analysis indicated that the measures of mental illness and positive mental health loaded on separate but correlated factors. Finally, Personal Protection Equipment availability moderated the effects of state anxiety and traumatic intensity on professionals’ well-being.ConclusionsHealth-care professionals’ mental illness and positive mental health reflect distinct continua, rather than the extreme ends of a single spectrum. Therefore, it is essential to measure both psychopathology and the presence of positive health to comprehensively evaluate professionals’ mental health. Finally, our results indicated that Personal Protection Equipment availability is essential not only for professionals’ physical health, but also for their mental health.
Highlights
The effect of COVID-19 on Health-Care Professionals’ mental health has received increased attention in the last year’s literature
Healthcare professionals were living in a constant fear of COVID-19 disease exposure, a fact that was aggravated by the lack of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)
80 health-care professionals (34.48%) reported a Davidson trauma scale (DTS) score greater than 40 which is the optimal cut-point for accurate classification of those with or without Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) according to Davidson and colleagues (1997)
Summary
The effect of COVID-19 on Health-Care Professionals’ mental health has received increased attention in the last year’s literature. On April 4, Spain had 124,736 confirmed cases (34,219 recovered), 57,612 hospitalized patients, 6,532 Intensive Care Units (ICU) patients and 11,744 deaths according to official data provided by the Spanish Government. This large increase in the number of patients caused an emergency reorganization in hospitals, creating a climate of uncertainty for health-care professionals. There was a great work overload, especially in ICU, with a very high ratio of patients/professionals, and many professionals had to attend patients even without the required clinical training During this period, healthcare professionals were living in a constant fear of COVID-19 disease exposure, a fact that was aggravated by the lack of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)
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