Abstract
BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic poses mental health challenges to frontline healthcare workers. Eye care professionals may be especially susceptible to mental health problems due to high-risk exposures to patients. Yet, no prior research has studied mental health issues among eye care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic among eye care professionals.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey study among eye care professionals and students in the United States and Canada from June 23 to July 8, 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 8505 eye care professionals and students received email invitations to the survey and 2134 participated. We measured mental health outcomes including symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress using validated scales, as well as potential risk factors including demographic characteristics, state-level COVID-19 case counts, participants’ patient interactions, childcare responsibilities, and pre-pandemic stress levels. Linear multiple regression and logistic regression analyses were used to determine relationships between risk factors and mental health outcomes.ResultsWe found that 38.4% of eyecare professional participants in the survey met screening threshold as probable cases of anxiety, depression, or both during the COVID-19 pandemic. Controlling for self-reported pre-pandemic stress level and state COVID-19 case daily cases, significant risk factors for depression, anxiety, and psychological stress during the COVID-19 pandemic included: being female, younger age, and being Black or Asian. Interestingly, we found two somewhat surprising protective factors against depression symptoms: more frequent interactions with patients and having a greater proportion of childcare responsibilities at home.ConclusionsThis study showed a high prevalence of mental health problems and revealed disparities in mental health among eye care personnel and students: Female, younger, Black, and Asian populations are particularly vulnerable to mental health issues. These results indicate that it is critical to identify mental health issues more effectively and develop interventions among this population to address this significant and growing public health issue. The strategies and policies should be reflective of the demographic disparities in this vulnerable population.
Highlights
During the COVID-19 pandemic, frontline healthcare workers are at higher risk for mental health disorders because they face increased infection risk, a heavier workload, and potentially, life or death decisions [1,2,3,4,5,6]
We found that 38.4% of eyecare professional participants in the survey met screening threshold as probable cases of anxiety, depression, or both during the COVID-19 pandemic
This study showed a high prevalence of mental health problems and revealed disparities in mental health among eye care personnel and students: Female, younger, Black, and Asian populations are vulnerable to mental health issues
Summary
During the COVID-19 pandemic, frontline healthcare workers are at higher risk for mental health disorders because they face increased infection risk, a heavier workload, and potentially, life or death decisions [1,2,3,4,5,6]. It is important to protect healthcare workers from risks of mental health problems. The severity of healthcare workers’ mental health problems is illustrated clearly in a meta-analysis on 65 studies, which showed that the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and stress were 31.8, 40.3, and 11.4% among healthcare workers during COVID-19 [2]. Eye care professionals may be especially at risk for stress and mental health issues. The current study fills this gap and examines risk factors for mental health issues among eyecare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eye care professionals may be especially susceptible to mental health problems due to high-risk exposures to patients. No prior research has studied mental health issues among eye care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic
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