A Longitudinal Study on the Changes in Mental Health of Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Objective: This study examines Argentinean health care workers in order to 1) test self-perceived job performance levels and the presence of psychological symptoms compatible with common mental disorders, and 2) examine within-person changes in general discomfort and psychological distress, adjusting for demographic factors, region, and health-related factors during two time points of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: This longitudinal study comprised 305 healthcare workers who completed a survey at two time points approximately 4 months apart. We used the General Health Questionnaire and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale to measure mental health outcomes. To address the first aim we calculated differences (Student’s t test for paired samples) and correlations (Pearson’s r coefficient). To address the second aim we used fixed effects model by means of a multilevel approach, a linear model that considers dependency in the data. Results: Self-perceived job performance deteriorated across time. From the first measurement to the four-month follow-up, more health care workers presented common mental disorders (40% vs 45.57%), depression, and/or anxiety (52.46% vs 62.62%). A meaningful worsening of mental health was observed in healthcare workers who expressed concern about being infected with COVID-19, whether asymptomatic (greater general discomfort and psychological distress) or symptomatic (greater general discomfort). Likewise, there were significant interactions between a history of mental disorder and concern about COVID-19 infection. Conclusions: Among healthcare workers, the uncertainty about the COVID-19 infection may have larger negative mental health impacts than actually being infected.
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | article biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
2021-07-30
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| Subjects: | Covid 19, Health care, Workers, Psychological symptoms, Mental disorders, Psychological distress, Pandemic, |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.2021.1940469 http://hdl.handle.net/11086/20083 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00332747.2021.1940469 |
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