Abstract
Background:Before the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare providers (HCPs) were already experiencing a higher prevalence of mental health disorders compared with non-healthcare professionals. Here, we report on the psychosocial functioning and stress resilience of HCPs who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic in a large-sized psychiatric facility and a large acute care hospital, both located in central Ontario, Canada.Methods:Participants completed five validated psychometric instruments assessing depression, anxiety, and stress (The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21, DASS-21); work-related quality of life (Work-Related Quality of Life Scale, WRQoL); resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, CD-RISC); anxiety about the novel coronavirus (Coronavirus Anxiety Scale, CAS); and loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale, ULS). Participants from the psychiatric hospital (n = 94) were sampled during the easing of restrictions after the first wave in Ontario, and participants from the acute care hospital (n = 146) were sampled during the height of the second wave in Ontario.Results:Data showed that HCPs from the acute care hospital and psychiatric hospital reported similar scores on the psychometric scales. There were also no significant differences in psychometric scale scores between medical disciplines at the acute care hospital. Among all HCPs, being a nurse predicted better quality of life (p = 0.01) and greater stress resilience (p = 0.031).Conclusion:These results suggest that HCPs' psychological symptoms are similar across the hospital settings sampled. Compared to other HCPs, nurses may show a unique resiliency to the pandemic. We suggest that emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic have a pervasive effect on HCPs. It is important to address HCPs' mental health needs in terms of crisis management and improve resilience among all HCPs during the inter-crisis period before a new challenge arrives.
Highlights
The first cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), were reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, between December 2019 and January 2020 [1]
The pandemic and the infection control measures put in place to curb COVID-19 brought new mental health challenges to the general population in Canada, caused by physical distancing measures, social isolation, financial and employment insecurity, housing instability, and changes to health and social care access
We evaluated loneliness using the UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS), a 20-item instrument that measures how frequently a person feels disconnected from others
Summary
The first cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), were reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, between December 2019 and January 2020 [1]. The pandemic and the infection control measures put in place to curb COVID-19 brought new mental health challenges to the general population in Canada, caused by physical distancing measures, social isolation, financial and employment insecurity, housing instability, and changes to health and social care access. These factors all contributed to a broadening of mental health inequities [6, 7]. We report on the psychosocial functioning and stress resilience of HCPs who worked during the COVID-19 pandemic in a largesized psychiatric facility and a large acute care hospital, both located in central Ontario, Canada
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