Abstract
Health professionals may be a vulnerable group to posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. To investigate how health professionals who experienced a traumatic event are expressing PTSS and factors related to risk for higher PTSS symptomatology can inform how health professionals are facing their role in this crisis. This was an Internet cross-sectional survey. Participants were 49,767 Brazilian health professionals who have ever faced a traumatic event, which was about 25.9% of an initial sample of health professionals. PTSS symptoms were assessed using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and latent profile analysis (LPA) explored subpopulations within participants based on their scores. Distinct profiles were compared for psychological distress (e.g., depression and anxiety) and quality of life. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between IES-R profiles and COVID-19 related experiences, thoughts, and perceptions. A two-profile model was the most appropriate for the IES-R data pointing out a group with a high level of PTSS (named high-PTSS; n = 10,401, 20.9%) and another expressing a low level of symptoms (named low-PTSS; n = 39,366, 79.1%). The high-PTSS profile demonstrated worse psychological scores (global psychological distress, somatization, depression, and anxiety) and worse quality of life (physical, psychological, social, and environmental) with moderate magnitudes. Small but significant predictors of the high-PTSS profile included sociodemographic characteristics and COVID-19 related experiences, thoughts, and perceptions. Most individuals who experienced a traumatic event were not in the high-PTSS profile. For those who were, however, psychological and quality of life measures were much worse. During the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, several characteristics emerged as risks to report trauma.
Highlights
Health professionals may be a vulnerable group to posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic
We based most of the questionnaire about COVID-19 associated experiences on the same questions presented in the first study published on the psychological impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, which was done in China by Wang et al.[22], adding questions we found appropriate for the Brazilian context at the time (i.e., April 2020)
We found two latent profiles of PTSS in health professionals who reported having ever lived a traumatic experience
Summary
Health professionals may be a vulnerable group to posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) during the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. To investigate how health professionals who experienced a traumatic event are expressing PTSS and factors related to risk for higher PTSS symptomatology can inform how health professionals are facing their role in this crisis. The world is living with a rapidly evolving viral infection, the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that is drastically altering people’s lives bringing with it unprecedented hazards to mental h ealth[1] Disasters such as a pandemic, when followed by extended periods of high cumulative adversity associated with breakdown of infrastructure, family stress, loss of life and property, ongoing economic consequences, and other factors that hinders overall recovery, pose a much greater risk of mental health problems surgency and persistence[2,3]. The aftermath of the pandemic can imply loss of activities and occupations, social and economic instability, disturbance of the feeling of belonging and promotion of migration[11,12]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
