Burnout Status of Italian Healthcare Workers during the First COVID-19 Pandemic Peak Period.

Chiara Conti,Robert L. Doyle,Lilybeth Fontanesi,Piero Porcelli,Ilenia Rosa,Roberta Lanzara

doi:10.3390/healthcare9050510

Abstract

The pandemic of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has burdened extraordinary psychological stress on the healthcare workforce. The present survey aimed to examine the personal resources and psychological symptoms associated with burnout in 933 healthcare workers in Italy during the COVID-19 outbreak period. Sociodemographic and occupational data, depression, anxiety, burnout, and post-traumatic symptoms, as well as psychological well-being, were cross-sectional assessed through an online questionnaire. A considerable part of the sample scored over the clinical levels of depression (57.9%), anxiety (65.2%), post-traumatic symptoms (55%), and burnout (25.61%). Working in the front-line (p < 0.05), being part of the medical staff (p < 0.05), experiencing lower levels of psychological well-being (p < 0.001), and higher levels of post-traumatic symptoms (p < 0.001) independently explained 38% of burnout variance. The healthcare industry, services, and professionals should be aware of the harmful effects of COVID-19 on healthcare workers and take adequate preventive measures.

Highlights

Introduction and Alyx TaylorThe rapid global spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), first identified in Wuhan, China, and spread worldwide [1], has rapidly raised concerns about the well-being of healthcare workers (HCWs) [2]
Our results show that post-traumatic symptoms may predispose HCWs to experience high burnout, and psychological well-being may protect HCWs from developing burnout
This study shows that HCWs during the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy experienced a high burden of psychological distress

Summary

Introduction

Introduction and Alyx TaylorThe rapid global spread of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), first identified in Wuhan, China, and spread worldwide [1], has rapidly raised concerns about the well-being of healthcare workers (HCWs) [2]. In Italy, the total number of cases went beyond 2,739,591 people, and the number of people killed by COVID-19 is about 94,171 [3]. About 110,647 HCWs have been infected, and 244 have died during the epidemic in Italy [4]. Since the inception of the pandemic spread in December 2019, each hospital department had worked in emergency mode and has been on daily alert to prevent a possible aggravating of the situation. In the second phase of the pandemic, all HCWs continue to cope with massive adjustments at work. Critical is the work in close contact with patients positive for COVID-19 or with patients who are in the hospital with suspected COVID-19 infection [6,7].

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