Secondary Traumatic Stress and Burnout in Healthcare Workers during COVID-19 Outbreak.

Ciro Conversano,Rebecca Ciacchini,Mario Miccoli,Graziella Orrù,Angelo Gemignani,Francesca Marzetti,Eugenia Panait,Guido Vagheggini

doi:10.3390/ijerph18010337

Abstract

(1) Background: The present study aims to assess the level of professional burnout and secondary traumatic stress (STS), and to identify potential risk or protective factors among health care workers (HCWs) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.; (2) Methods: This cross-sectional study, based on an online survey, collected demographic data and mental distress outcomes from 184 HCWs from 1 May 2020, to 15 June 2020, from 45 different countries. The degree of STS, perceived stress and burnout was assessed using the Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Service Survey (MBI-HSS) respectively. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to identify potential risk and protective factors for STS; (3) Results: 184 HCWs (M = 90; Age mean: 46.45; SD: 11.02) completed the survey. A considerable proportion of HCWs had symptoms of STS (41.3%), emotional exhaustion (56.0%), and depersonalization (48.9%). The prevalence of STS was 47.5% in frontline HCWs while in HCWs working in other units it was 30.3% (p < 0.023); 67.1% for the HCWs exposed to patients’ death and 32.9% for those HCWs which were not exposed to the same condition (p < 0.001). In stepwise multiple regression analysis, perceived stress, emotional exhaustion, and exposure to patients’ death remained as significant predictors in the final model for STS (adjusted R2 = 0.537, p < 0.001); (4) Conclusions: During the current COVID-19 pandemic, HCWs facing patients’ physical pain, psychological suffering, and death are more likely to develop STS.

Highlights

The health emergency due to the COVID-19 outbreak has heavily impacted the psychological and emotional wellbeing of the general population [1,2] and healthcare workers (HCWs)
The present study aims to assess the psychological distress in terms of perceived stress, professional burnout and STS, and to identify potential risk or protective factors, among health care workers (HCWs) during the COVID-19 outbreak all over the world
(5.6%) were infected by COVID-19 and 57 HCWs (31.0%) had one or more family members infected by COVID-19

Summary

Introduction

The health emergency due to the COVID-19 outbreak has heavily impacted the psychological and emotional wellbeing of the general population [1,2] and healthcare workers (HCWs). In the frontline HCWs, different sources of psychological distress have been reported, such as uncertainty of the disease progression (short- and long-term effects), treatment, lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), physical exhaustion, overwhelming workload, concerns about the direct exposure to COVID-19 at work. The latter is associated with the fear of getting infected or spreading the infection among colleagues and families members [3,4,5,6,7,8].

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion