IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i19p10531-d651423.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Psychosocial Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Workers and Initial Areas of Action for Intervention and Prevention—The egePan/VOICE Study

Author

Listed:
  • Lucia Jerg-Bretzke

    (Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Ulm University Medical Center, 89081 Ulm, Germany)

  • Maximilian Kempf

    (Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Ulm University Medical Center, 89081 Ulm, Germany)

  • Marc Nicolas Jarczok

    (Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Ulm University Medical Center, 89081 Ulm, Germany)

  • Katja Weimer

    (Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Ulm University Medical Center, 89081 Ulm, Germany)

  • Christian Hirning

    (Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Ulm University Medical Center, 89081 Ulm, Germany)

  • Harald Gündel

    (Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Ulm University Medical Center, 89081 Ulm, Germany)

  • Yesim Erim

    (Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany)

  • Eva Morawa

    (Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), 91054 Erlangen, Germany)

  • Franziska Geiser

    (Clinic and Polyclinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany)

  • Nina Hiebel

    (Clinic and Polyclinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Bonn, 53127 Bonn, Germany)

  • Kerstin Weidner

    (Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, 01307 Dresden, Germany)

  • Christian Albus

    (Department of Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty and University Hospital, 50924 Cologne, Germany)

  • Petra Beschoner

    (Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Ulm University Medical Center, 89081 Ulm, Germany)

Abstract

Introduction: Epidemics lead to an increase in occupational stress and psychological strain among healthcare workers. However, the impact of a pandemic outbreak on healthcare systems is yet to be clearly defined. Therefore, this work aims to describe and analyze specific areas of workload among different groups of healthcare workers during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A sample of N = 8088 persons working in the German-speaking healthcare sector participated in the VOICE/egePan online survey, which addressed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic during the second quarter of 2020. We used 15 self-constructed items, based on the work of Matsuishi et al. (2012), to identify potential COVID-19-specific topics. Results: N = 7542 records of healthcare workers were analyzed. Of these, 60.80% reported, retrospectively, an increase in stress since the outbreak of the pandemic. Problem areas tended to be indicated more frequently by the women surveyed than by the men. Nurses, paramedics and medical technicians reported the highest fear of infecting others while physicians reported the highest fear of physical or mental exhaustion. With respect to age, older respondents indicated less fear and felt more protected. Men and people living alone were more likely to use dysfunctional coping strategies. Migrants reported a higher fear of becoming infected or infecting others as well as they reported about increased levels of smoking. Discussion: Retrospectively, the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in stress among healthcare workers. Problem areas have different focuses with regard to different living situations, environmental conditions and professions. In order to lay the best basis for healthy and efficient work, it seems necessary to take measures especially tailored to the needs of different groups of healthcare workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucia Jerg-Bretzke & Maximilian Kempf & Marc Nicolas Jarczok & Katja Weimer & Christian Hirning & Harald Gündel & Yesim Erim & Eva Morawa & Franziska Geiser & Nina Hiebel & Kerstin Weidner & Christian, 2021. "Psychosocial Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Workers and Initial Areas of Action for Intervention and Prevention—The egePan/VOICE Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-16, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:10531-:d:651423
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10531/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/10531/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sajana Ghimire & Jonathan Hallett & Corie Gray & Roanna Lobo & Gemma Crawford, 2019. "What Works? Prevention and Control of Sexually Transmitted Infections and Blood-Borne Viruses in Migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa, Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia Living in High-Income Countries: A ," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-17, April.
    2. Carmen Koschollek & Anna Kuehne & Johanna Müllerschön & Stephen Amoah & Helene Batemona-Abeke & Taty Dela Bursi & Pierre Mayamba & Adama Thorlie & Christina Mputu Tshibadi & Virginia Wangare Greiner &, 2020. "Knowledge, information needs and behavior regarding HIV and sexually transmitted infections among migrants from sub-Saharan Africa living in Germany: Results of a participatory health research survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(1), pages 1-21, January.
    3. Carmen Trumello & Sonia Monique Bramanti & Giulia Ballarotto & Carla Candelori & Luca Cerniglia & Silvia Cimino & Monia Crudele & Lucia Lombardi & Silvia Pignataro & Maria Luisa Viceconti & Alessandra, 2020. "Psychological Adjustment of Healthcare Workers in Italy during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Differences in Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Burnout, Secondary Trauma, and Compassion Satisfaction between Frontli," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-13, November.
    4. Izu Nwachukwu & Nnamdi Nkire & Reham Shalaby & Marianne Hrabok & Wesley Vuong & April Gusnowski & Shireen Surood & Liana Urichuk & Andrew J. Greenshaw & Vincent I.O. Agyapong, 2020. "COVID-19 Pandemic: Age-Related Differences in Measures of Stress, Anxiety and Depression in Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-10, September.
    5. Bönke, Timm & Glaubitz, Rick & Göbler, Konstantin & Harnack, Astrid & Pape, Astrid & Wetter, Miriam, 2020. "Die Entwicklung und Prognose von Lebenserwerbseinkommen in Deutschland," Discussion Papers 2020/5, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    6. Nicola Magnavita & Francesco Chirico & Sergio Garbarino & Nicola Luigi Bragazzi & Emiliano Santacroce & Salvatore Zaffina, 2021. "SARS/MERS/SARS-CoV-2 Outbreaks and Burnout Syndrome among Healthcare Workers. An Umbrella Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-13, April.
    7. Francesco Bellanti & Aurelio Lo Buglio & Erika Capuano & Michał Dobrakowski & Aleksandra Kasperczyk & Sławomir Kasperczyk & Antonio Ventriglio & Gianluigi Vendemiale, 2021. "Factors Related to Nurses’ Burnout during the First Wave of Coronavirus Disease-19 in a University Hospital in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-14, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gaia Sampogna & Maurizio Pompili & Andrea Fiorillo, 2021. "Mental Health in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Worldwide Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-5, December.
    2. Hiroki Asaoka & Yuichi Koido & Yuzuru Kawashima & Miki Ikeda & Yuki Miyamoto & Daisuke Nishi, 2021. "Longitudinal Change of Psychological Distress among Healthcare Professionals with and without Psychological First Aid Training Experience during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-12, November.
    3. Gaia Sampogna & Maurizio Pompili & Andrea Fiorillo, 2022. "The Short-Term Consequences of COVID-19 on Mental Health: State of the Art from Available Studies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-5, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ana Magro & Aida Gutiérrez-García & Marta González-Álvarez & Mario Del Líbano, 2022. "Psychosocial Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Professionals in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-14, November.
    2. Nicola Magnavita & Paolo Maurizio Soave & Massimo Antonelli, 2021. "Prolonged Stress Causes Depression in Frontline Workers Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study in a COVID-19 Hub-Hospital in Central Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-13, July.
    3. Fatime Arenliu Qosaj & Stevan Merrill Weine & Pleurat Sejdiu & Fekrije Hasani & Shukrije Statovci & Vigan Behluli & Aliriza Arenliu, 2022. "Prevalence of Perceived Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in HCW in Kosovo during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-13, December.
    4. Grażyna Puto & Maria Jurzec & Anna Leja-Szpak & Joanna Bonior & Marta Muszalik & Agnieszka Gniadek, 2021. "Stress and Coping Strategies of Nurses Working with Patients Infected with and Not Infected with SARS-CoV-2 Virus," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-11, December.
    5. Reparata Rosa Di Prinzio & Giorgia Bondanini & Federica De Falco & Maria Rosaria Vinci & Vincenzo Camisa & Annapaola Santoro & Marcello De Santis & Massimiliano Raponi & Guendalina Dalmasso & Salvator, 2022. "The Management of Workplace Violence against Healthcare Workers: A Multidisciplinary Team for Total Worker Health ® Approach in a Hospital," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-10, December.
    6. Mehran Shayganfard & Fateme Mahdavi & Mohammad Haghighi & Dena Sadeghi-Bahmani & Serge Brand, 2021. "Sources of Health Anxiety for Hospital Staff Working during the Covid-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-11, March.
    7. Alessandra Gorini & Mattia Giuliani & Elena Fiabane & Alice Bonomi & Paola Gabanelli & Antonia Pierobon & Pasquale Moretta & Giovanna Pagliarulo & Simona Spaccavento & Gaetano Vaudo & Matteo Pirro & M, 2022. "Prevalence of Psychopathological Symptoms and Their Determinants in Four Healthcare Workers’ Categories during the Second Year of COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-11, October.
    8. Paola Manfredi, 2022. "Is This All COVID-19′s Fault? A Study on Trainees in One of the Most Affected Italian Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-18, October.
    9. van de Weijer, Margot P. & de Vries, Lianne P. & Pelt, Dirk H.M. & Ligthart, Lannie & Willemsen, Gonneke & Boomsma, Dorret I. & de Geus, Eco & Bartels, Meike, 2022. "Self-rated health when population health is challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic; a longitudinal study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    10. Yushi Lu & Zhi Li & Yuting Fan & Jin Wang & Tian Zhong & Ling Wang & Ying Xiao & Dongmei Zhang & Qingsong Chen & Xi Yu, 2022. "The Mediating Role of Cumulative Fatigue on the Association between Occupational Stress and Depressive Symptoms: A Cross-Sectional Study among 1327 Chinese Primary Healthcare Professionals," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-15, November.
    11. David Lucas & Sandrine Brient & Tanguy Le Grand & Jean-Dominique Dewitte & Brice Loddé & Richard Pougnet & Bisi Moriamo Eveillard, 2022. "Evolution of Global Health and Psychosocial Factors among Hospital Workers during First Year of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-11, November.
    12. Kimberly C. Thomson & Emily Jenkins & Randip Gill & Chris G. Richardson & Monique Gagné Petteni & Corey McAuliffe & Anne M. Gadermann, 2021. "Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Family Mental Health in Canada: Findings from a Multi-Round Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-17, November.
    13. Ekaterina A. Shashina & Valentina V. Makarova & Denis V. Shcherbakov & Tatiana S. Isiutina-Fedotkova & Nadezhda N. Zabroda & Nina A. Ermakova & Anton Yu. Skopin & Oleg V. Mitrokhin, 2021. "Use of Respiratory Protection Devices by Medical Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-12, May.
    14. Andrea Conti & Sophia Russotto & Annalisa Opizzi & Matteo Ratti & Daniele Nicolini & Kris Vanhaecht & Massimiliano Panella, 2022. "Work-Related Stress among a Cohort of Italian Long-Term Care Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Observational Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-10, May.
    15. Pinky Mahlangu & Yandisa Sikweyiya & Andrew Gibbs & Nwabisa Shai & Mercilene Machisa, 2023. "“I Carry the Trauma and Can Vividly Remember”: Mental Health Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Frontline Health Care Workers in South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-14, January.
    16. Antonella Zizza & Marcello Guido & Virginia Recchia & Pierfrancesco Grima & Federico Banchelli & Andrea Tinelli, 2021. "Knowledge, Information Needs and Risk Perception about HIV and Sexually Transmitted Diseases after an Education Intervention on Italian High School and University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-14, February.
    17. Romana Ulbrichtova & Viera Svihrova & Maria Tatarkova & Jan Svihra & Martin Novak & Henrieta Hudeckova, 2022. "Prevalence of Burnout Syndrome in COVID-19 and Non-COVID-19 Units in University Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-9, October.
    18. Murat Yıldırım & Ömer Kaynar & Francesco Chirico & Nicola Magnavita, 2023. "Resilience and Extrinsic Motivation as Mediators in the Relationship between Fear of Failure and Burnout," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-12, May.
    19. Isidora Vujčić & Teodora Safiye & Bojana Milikić & Emina Popović & Draško Dubljanin & Eleonora Dubljanin & Jakša Dubljanin & Milanko Čabarkapa, 2021. "Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Epidemic and Mental Health Status in the General Adult Population of Serbia: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-15, February.
    20. Cervantée E. K. Wild & Hailey Wells & Nicolene Coetzee & Cameron C. Grant & Trudy A. Sullivan & José G. B. Derraik & Yvonne C. Anderson, 2022. "Mixed-Methods Survey of Healthcare Workers’ Experiences of Personal Protective Equipment during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Aotearoa/New Zealand," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-10, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:10531-:d:651423. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.