The Prevalence of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms, Sleep Problems, and Psychological Distress Among COVID-19 Frontline Healthcare Workers in Taiwan.

Mei-Yun Lu,Po-Lin Chen,Yu-Pin Chen,Nai-Ying Ko,Chung-Ying Lin,Yi-Jie Kuo,Daniel Kwasi Ahorsu,Yi-Hsuan Lin,Shikha Kukreti,Wen-Chien Ko,Carol Strong

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.705657

Abstract

The adverse effect of COVID-19 pandemic among individuals has been very disturbing especially among healthcare workers. This study aims to examine the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, sleep problems, and psychological distress among COVID-19 frontline healthcare workers in Taiwan. Hence, a total of 500 frontline healthcare workers were recruited to participate in this cross-sectional study. They responded to measures on fear of COVID-19, depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, PTSD, perceived stigma, and self-stigma. The results indicated a prevalence rate of 15.4% for PTSD symptoms, 44.6% for insomnia, 25.6% for depressive symptoms, 30.6% for anxiety symptoms, and 23.4% for stress among the participants. There were significantly positive interrelationships between all these variables. Anxiety symptoms and fear of COVID-19 predicted PTSD whereas symptoms of anxiety, fear of COVID-19, and stress predicted insomnia. The prevalence rates of the psychological problems reveal a worrying view of mental health challenges among Taiwanese frontline healthcare workers. Anxiety symptoms and fear of COVID-19 are the common predictive factors of PTSD and sleep problems suggesting that mental healthcare services for them may help prevent future occurrence of psychological problems by allaying fears of healthcare workers. Therefore, there should be mental healthcare services for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlights

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly altered our way of life [1,2,3], negatively affected our health [4,5,6] and debilitated economies worldwide [7, 8]
The prevalence rate of psychological problems during COVID19 pandemic reveals a worrisome view of the mental health challenges among healthcare workers in Taiwan
The findings from this study revealed that anxiety symptoms and fear of COVID-19 are the common predictive factors of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and sleep problems among COVID-19 frontline healthcare workers

Summary

Introduction

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly altered our way of life [1,2,3], negatively affected our health [4,5,6] and debilitated economies worldwide [7, 8]. With COVID-19 being a critical health issue, healthcare personnel especially those at the frontline face a daunting task of learning to convey appropriate information about COVID-19 to the population without inciting panic, protecting themselves from contracting the virus without compromising treatment efficacy, and dealing with other stressors that are associated with COVID-19 [11]. Frontline healthcare workers may have psychological challenges due to the stress involved with working in a COVID-19 environment daily. It may be prudent to examine the prevalence of psychological distress among frontline healthcare workers

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Discussion

Conclusion