Preliminary Report: US Physician Stress During the Early Days of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

ObjectiveTo assess the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on physician stress and mental health. MethodsThe 10-item Coping With COVID survey assessed stress among 2373 physicians from April 4 to May 27, 2020. A stress summary score with 4 items (a single-item [overall] stress measure, fear of exposure, perceived anxiety/depression due to COVID, and work overload, each scored 1-4) ranged from 4 to 16. Hypothesized stress mitigators included enhanced purpose and feeling valued by one’s organization. Multilevel linear regression tested associations of variables with overall stress and stress summary scores. ResultsIn 2373 physicians in 17 organizations (median response rate of 32%), mean stress summary score was 9.1 (SD 2.6). Stress was highest among women (stress summary score, 9.4 [SD 2.5] vs 8.7 [SD 2.6] in men; P <.001), inpatient physicians (stress summary score, 9.4 [SD 2.8] vs 8.9 [SD 2.5] in outpatient physicians; P <.001), early- and mid-career physicians (stress summary score, 9.5 [SD 2.6] vs 8.6 [SD 2.5] in late-career physicians; P <.001), and physicians in critical care (stress summary score, 10.8), emergency departments (10.2), and hospital medicine (10.1). Increases in perceived anxiety/depression (regression coefficient, 0.30), workload (0.28), and fear (0.14) were associated with higher overall stress (P values <.001). Increases in feeling valued were associated with lower stress summary scores (regression coefficient, −0.67; P <.001) and explained 11% of stress summary score variance at the physician level and 31% of variance at the organizational level. ConclusionMental health support, modulation of workload, and noting physicians’ organizational value should be explored as means to reduce COVID-related stress.