Abstract
The health crisis triggered by COVID-19 and the preventive measures taken to control it have caused a strong psychological impact on the population, especially on healthcare professionals. Risk exposure, uncertainty about how to approach the disease, care and emotional overburden, lack of resources, or unclear ever-changing protocols are, among others, psychological distress risk factors for the healthcare professionals who have faced this dramatic scenario on the front line. On the other hand, the Sense of Coherence (SOC) is a competence that could help these professionals perceive the situation as understandable, manageable, and meaningful, facilitating the activation of their resilience. This work aims to describe the levels of psychological distress and SOC of healthcare professionals during the crisis caused by COVID-19, the relationship between both variables, and their health status. A cross-sectional descriptive study with a sample of 1459 currently active healthcare workers was developed. GHQ-12 and SOC-13 were used for data collection. Bivariate analyses were performed, including Chi-Squared Test, Student’s T-Test, Analysis of Variance—ANOVA (with Bonferroni test for multiple comparisons), and correlations. Cohen’s d or Cramer’s V effect size measurements were also provided. The results showed that 80.6% of healthcare professionals had psychological distress, and the mean score on the SOC-13 scale was 62.8 points (SD = 12.02). Both psychological distress and SOC were related to the presence of COVID-19 symptoms, as well as with contact history. Professionals with psychological distress showed a lower SOC. Taking care of the mental health of healthcare professionals is essential to effectively cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the psychological impact of working in the current menacing scenario, people on the front line against the disease should be protected, minimizing risks, providing them with resources and support, and fostering their coping skills.
Highlights
At the end of December 2019, a number of cases of pneumonia of unknown origin began to be reported in Wuhan City, China [1], which, after analyzing the causative pathogen, was found to be a betacoronavirus that was renamed Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2 and which caused the so-called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) [2].Due to its evolution, on 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international scope, to later appoint COVID-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020
The objective of this study was to describe the levels of psychological distress and Sense of Coherence (SOC) among healthcare professionals during the health crisis caused by COVID-19, the relationship between both variables, and their health status
The results revealed a high prevalence of psychological distress among healthcare professionals who had served the population during the COVID-19 health crisis (80.6%)
Summary
On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international scope, to later appoint COVID-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. The Spanish government declared a state of alarm on 14 March 2020 as a preventive measure to contain the spread of the virus and minimize the health, social, and economic impact of the crisis. To maintain their safety, citizens were confined to their homes, by limiting their movements to the essentials. 14.9% of reported cases were health workers, and this percentage was significantly higher among women than among men (20.7% vs 9.3%) [5]. Geographical variability was identified, with higher prevalence around Madrid (>10%) and lower in coastal areas (
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