PTSD and Depression in Healthcare Workers in the Italian Epicenter of the COVID-19 Outbreak.

Claudia Carmassi,Chiara Grossi,Valerio Dell’Oste,Virginia Pedrinelli,Liliana Dell’Osso,Camilla Gesi,Carlo Antonio Bertelloni,Giancarlo Cerveri

doi:10.2174/1745017902117010242

Claudia Carmassi, Chiara Grossi + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.2174/1745017902117010242

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Abstract

Background:Increasing evidence highlights the susceptibility of Healthcare Workers to develop psychopathological sequelae, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression, in the current COronaVIrus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, but little data have been reported in the acute phase of the pandemic.Objective:To explore Healthcare Workers’ mental health reactions in the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first European epicenter (Lodi/Codogno, Italy), with particular attention to post-traumatic stress and depressive symptoms and their interplay with other psychological outcomes.Methods:74 Healthcare Workers employed at the Azienda Socio Sanitaria Territoriale of Lodi (Lombardy, Italy) were recruited and assessed by means of the Impact of Event Scale- Revised, the Professional Quality of Life Scale-5, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 item, the Resilience Scale and the Work and Social Adjustment Scale. Socio-demographic and clinical variables were compared across three subgroups of the sample (No PTSD, PTSD only, PTSD and depression).Results:A total of 31% of subjects endorsed a diagnosis of PTSD and 28.4% reported PTSD comorbid with major depression. Females were more prone to develop post-traumatic stress and depressive symptoms. Subjects with PTSD and depression groups showed high levels of PTSD, depression, burnout and impairment in functioning. Anxiety symptoms were higher in both PTSD and depression and PTSD groups rather than in the No PTSD group.Conclusion:Our results showed high rates of PTSD and depression among Healthcare Workers and their comorbidity overall being associated with worse outcomes. Current findings suggest that interventions to prevent and treat psychological implications among Healthcare Workers facing infectious outbreaks are needed.

Highlights

Our results showed high rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression among Healthcare Workers and their comorbidity overall being associated with worse outcomes
Regarding COVID-19 emergency, 46 (62.2%) Healthcare Workers (HCWs) were directly involved in the management of COVID-19 patients, 39 (52.7%) reported having assisted at least one patient who died because of the COVID-19 and 45 (60.8%) referred an increased workload linked to the emergency
The present study reported on PTSD and depression detected among the first Italian frontline HCWs involved in the management of patients referring to the hospital emergency unit for the symptoms related to the COVID-19 during the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country

Summary

Introduction

Despite most hospitals had plans in place for a COVID-19 outbreak upon the first Chinese reported evidence, few, if any, had imagined that it would have been so rapidly spreading and devastating. For these reasons, HCWs facing the first phase of the emergency were quite unprepared and they abruptly fell in a “war-like” setting [3, 4]. Increasing evidence highlights the susceptibility of Healthcare Workers to develop psychopathological sequelae, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression, in the current COronaVIrus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, but little data have been reported in the acute phase of the pandemic

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Discussion

Conclusion