Citation

Greenberg N, Weston D, Hall C, Caulfield T, Williamson V, Fong K. Occup. Med. 2021; 71(2): 62-67.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/occmed/kqaa220

PMID

33434920

PMCID

PMC7928568

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Staff working in intensive care units (ICUs) have faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic which have the potential to adversely affect their mental health.
AIMS: To identify the rates of probable mental health disorder in staff working in ICUs in nine English hospitals during June and July 2020.
METHODS: An anonymized brief web-based survey comprising standardized questionnaires examining depression, anxiety symptoms, symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), well-being and alcohol use was administered to staff.
RESULTS: Seven hundred and nine participants completed the surveys comprising 291 (41%) doctors, 344 (49%) nurses and 74 (10%) other healthcare staff. Over half (59%) reported good well-being; however, 45% met the threshold for probable clinical significance on at least one of the following measures: severe depression (6%), PTSD (40%), severe anxiety (11%) or problem drinking (7%). Thirteen per cent of respondents reported frequent thoughts of being better off dead, or of hurting themselves in the past 2 weeks. Within the sample used in this study, we found that doctors reported better mental health than nurses across a range of measures.
CONCLUSIONS: We found substantial rates of probable mental health disorders, and thoughts of self-harm, amongst ICU staff; these difficulties were especially prevalent in nurses. Whilst further work is needed to better understand the real level of clinical need amongst ICU staff, these results indicate the need for a national strategy to protect the mental health, and decrease the risk of functional impairment, of ICU staff whilst they carry out their essential work during COVID-19.

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; Adult; Female; Male; England; Physicians; mental health; COVID-19; Anxiety; Depression; Alcohol-Related Disorders; Prevalence; PTSD; Occupational Exposure; Nurses; Mental Health; Surveys and Questionnaires; self-harm; Intensive Care Units; Anxiety Disorders; Depressive Disorder; Mental Disorders; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; intensive care; nurses; SARS-CoV-2; Pandemics; Critical Care; doctors; Personnel, Hospital