Hospital clinicians' psychosocial well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: Longitudinal study

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  • Karen Wynter
  • Sara Holton
  • Melody Trueman
  • Suellen Bruce
  • Sue Sweeney
  • Shane Crowe
  • Adrian Dabscheck
  • Paul Eleftheriou
  • Sarah Booth
  • Danielle Hitch
  • Catherine M. Said
  • Kimberley J. Haines
  • Rasmussen, Bodil

Background: Hospital clinicians report poor psychosocial well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Few studies have reported data at more than one time point. Aims: To compare psychosocial well-being among hospital clinicians at two different time points during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Methods: Participants included doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health clinicians at a multi-site, public health service in Melbourne, Australia. Data were collected via two cross-sectional, online surveys: May to June (wave 1; n = 638) and October to December 2020 (wave 2; n = 358). The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) assessed psychological well-being in the past week. Investigator-devised questions assessed COVID-19 concerns and perceived work impacts. General linear models were used to assess impact of wave on psychological distress. Results: There were no significant demographic differences between the two groups. Both positive (e.g. learning experience) and negative (e.g. risk of getting COVID-19) impacts were reported. In both waves, staff were most concerned about health risks to family members. Wave 2 respondents were significantly more likely than wave 1 respondents to indicate concerns about colleagues having COVID-19, increased workloads, leave cancellation and increased conflict at work (all P < 0.001). Adjusting for sex, age, self-rated health and discipline group, depression, anxiety and stress scores were significantly higher for respondents in the second than the first wave (all P < 0.001). Conclusions: Psychological well-being of hospital clinicians was significantly worse during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic than the first. Sustained occupational and psychosocial support is recommended even when immediate COVID-19 concerns and impacts resolve.

Original languageEnglish
JournalOccupational Medicine
Volume72
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)215-224
Number of pages10
ISSN0962-7480
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

    Research areas

  • Hospital clinicians, psychological health, psychosocial, workplace stress

ID: 342964883