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Symptoms in Health Care Workers during the COVID-19 Epidemic. A Cross-Sectional Survey

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  • Nicola Magnavita

    (Postgraduate School of Occupational Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy
    Department of Woman/Child & Public Health, Fondazione Policlinico A. Gemelli, 00168 Roma, Italy)

  • Giovanni Tripepi

    (Research Unit of Reggio Calabria, Institute of Clinical Physiology, Italian National Research Council, 89124 Calabria, Italy)

  • Reparata Rosa Di Prinzio

    (Postgraduate School of Occupational Health, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Roma, Italy)

Abstract

In March–April 2020, the Corona Virus Disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic suddenly hit Italian healthcare facilities and in some of them many staff members became infected. In this work 595 health care workers from a public company were tested for Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (82 positive) and asked to complete a questionnaire on early COVID-19 symptoms. Respiratory symptoms were present in 56.1% of cases. Anosmia and dysgeusia in COVID-19 cases were found to have an odds ratio (OR) = 100.7 (95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 26.5–382.6) and an OR = 51.8 (95%CI 16.6–161.9), respectively. About one in three of the cases (29.3%) never manifested symptoms. Anxiety was reported by 16.6% of COVID-19 cases and depression by 20.3%, with a significant increase in the estimated risk (OR = 4.3; 95%CI = 2.4–7.4 for anxiety, OR = 3.5; 95%CI = 2.0–6.0 for depression). In cases, sleep was a significant moderating factor in the relationship between occupational stress, or organizational justice, and anxiety. The early diagnosis of COVID-19 in health care workers, must consider, in addition to respiratory disorders and fever, anosmia, dysgeusia, exhaustion, myalgias and enteric disorders. The frequency of anxiety and depression disorders in the population examined was not higher than that commonly recorded in the same company during periodic checks in the years preceding the epidemic. In COVID-19 cases there was a significant risk of anxiety, especially in those who had low sleep quality. Mental health support and improvement interventions must mainly concern workers with positive tests and should also tend to improve sleep quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicola Magnavita & Giovanni Tripepi & Reparata Rosa Di Prinzio, 2020. "Symptoms in Health Care Workers during the COVID-19 Epidemic. A Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-15, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:14:p:5218-:d:386816
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sergio Garbarino & Nicola Magnavita, 2019. "Sleep problems are a strong predictor of stress-related metabolic changes in police officers. A prospective study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(10), pages 1-19, October.
    2. Jill Maben 1,2,3,✉ & Jackie Bridges, 2020. "Covid‐19: Supporting nurses' psychological and mental health," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(15-16), pages 2742-2750, August.
    3. Huy Nguyen Van & Mai Dinh Le & Thanh Nguyen Van & Dung Nguyen Ngoc & Anh Tran Thi Ngoc & Phuong Nguyen The, 2018. "A systematic review of effort‐reward imbalance among health workers," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 674-695, July.
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