The health professionals and SARS-Cov-2 pandemic. Occupational performance and mental health

Abstract

Introduction: World Health Organization has designated 2021 as the International Year of Health Care Workers, recognizing the impact of the pandemic on their mental and physical health. Purpose: Investigating the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on mental health and professional performance of Greek National Health System health professionals. Material and Method: Online non-experimental quantitative cross-sectional study of 203 health care workers with a questionnaire that included a) the Health Worker’s Perception Survey on Covid-19 b) the Fear of Covid-19 questionnaire and c) the e-health questionnaire. Statistical analysis was carried out by SPSS – version 25, parametric t-test and one-way ANOVA tests were used while the level of statistical significance was set at 0.05. Results: Continuous information and the provision of Personal Protective Equipment had significant role in the performance of health professionals. The results did not show high levels of stress (M.T.=1.40) and fear (M.T.=1.14). Women presented higher levels of stress and fear compared to men (p =0.001), while health professionals who deal exclusively with the care of Covid-19 patients, had higher levels of stress (p=0.039). Also, respondents with ≥10 years of work showed greater levels of fear (p=0.014) and stress (p=0.044) than those with ≤10 years. Conclusions: Information, availability of Personal Protective Equipment and the observance of protection measures, are some important factors that during pandemic, have a decisive effect on health care workers’ efficiency and levels of fear and stress.