Objective: The present study aims to evaluate the symptoms of psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic, in Greek primary healthcare workers, correlating them with their individual characteristics.

Materials And Methods: The research is based on a self-report questionnaire distributed to primary HCWs of Thessaloniki's public health care units. A sample of 143 respondents was gathered. The questionnaire consists of 21 items: 6 demographic questions, 9 on personal distress, 5 on work-related distress and 1 on one dominant feeling of the participants. These items were based on existing validated measures, such as the "Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21", the "Kessler Psychological Distress Scale-10", "General Health Questionnaire- 28" and "Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale". The associations between participants' gender, education, specialty and parenthood were determined with Pearson's chi-squared (χ2) test.

Results: Overall, 70.4% of HCWs were generally affected by the pandemic. The personal distress factors revealed that the majority (67%) experienced distress due to routine changes. The effects on health behavior (sleep, eating behavior and substance use) were not high. Psychological/psychiatric needs were relatively low, while negative emotions and need of social support were high. 31.4% displayed intense emotional instability. All work-related distress factors were rated high. Worry about contracting COVID-19 in the workplace scored the highest (82.6%). Almost half of the participants felt exposed to COVID-19 infection (47.0%). Anxiety (47.2%) and burn-out (78.4%) symptoms were also revealed. Female participants appeared to be more anxious (P<0.01) and upset (P=0.013).

Conclusion: The exposure to a constant risk could potentially lead to an increase in HCWs' psychological distress. Designing the right tools and organizing the right plans are of paramount importance to prevent the deterioration of their wellness and quality of life.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.5644/ama2006-124.341DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

psychological distress
12
primary healthcare
8
healthcare workers
8
covid-19 pandemic
8
personal distress
8
work-related distress
8
distress factors
8
distress
7
distress primary
4
covid-19
4

Similar Publications

Background: Informal caregivers may face challenges, especially during the pre-transplant phase. We have learned about the challenges faced by informal caregivers during hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; there is a lack of consensus about the challenges faced by them before transplantation. We identified the psychosocial well-being of informal caregivers to patients before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Depression, anxiety and stress in taxi drivers: a systematic review of the literature.

Int Arch Occup Environ Health

January 2025

Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.

Purpose: Mental health is a global public health challenge, with mental disorders being a major cause of morbidity. Particularly, taxi drivers face unique challenges related to long working hours, economic instability, and hazardous working conditions. To summarise the existing scientific literature on mental disorders in taxi drivers and identify associated variables.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Perceived financial hardship and sleep in an adult population-based cohort: The mediating role of psychosocial and lifestyle-related factors.

Sleep Health

January 2025

Unit of Population Epidemiology, Division of Primary Care, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Background: Social inequalities in sleep have been reported, but there is less research on the mechanisms underlying this association. This study investigates the relationship between financial hardship and sleep within the general adult population, focusing on the mediating effects of psychosocial and lifestyle-related factors.

Methods: We used data from the Specchio cohort, a population-based study in Geneva, Switzerland, initiated in December 2020.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The impact of adverse childhood experiences on pain and subjective cognitive decline in patients treated for localized breast cancer: The mediating role of sense of coherence, sense of danger and psychosocial distress and danger.

Breast

January 2025

Oncology Division, Rambam Health Care Campus, HaAliya HaShniya St 8, Haifa, 3109601, Israel; Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion Israeli Institute of Technology, Efron St 1, Haifa, 3525433, Israel. Electronic address:

Background: Pain and subjective cognitive decline (SCD) are common sequala of breast cancer (BC) treatment. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with pain and adverse health outcomes in noncancer population. Sense of coherence (SOC) reflects the disposition that life is manageable and predictable.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Medicaid managed care network adequacy standards and mental health care access.

Am J Manag Care

January 2025

Department of Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medicine, 575 Lexington Ave, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10022. Email:

Objectives: Medicaid is the largest payer of mental health (MH) services in the US, and more than 80% of its enrollees are covered by Medicaid managed care (MMC). States are required to establish quantitative network adequacy standards (NAS) to regulate MMC plans' MH care access. We examined the association between quantitative NAS and MH care access among Medicaid-enrolled adults and among those with MH conditions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!