Nearly half of intensive care unit (ICU) and anesthetic staff surveyed for the study reported symptoms consistent with a possible diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety , or drinking difficulty.1
The introduction, produced by researchers at King’s College London, aimed to provide a picture of the levels of mental health problems in ICU and anesthetic staff in six English hospitals in the United Kingdom. June and July 2020. He found that while more than half reported good health, many showed signs of mental health problems.
The authors reported that, during the covid-19 pandemic, ICU workers have lost a “very challenging time” due to high mortality among ICU patients with covid-19. “The difficulty of communication and providing appropriate end-of-life support to patients and the closest relationships, due to visiting restrictions, has been a particular concern for all staff working in the ICU,” he said. them.
The researchers asked volunteers to conduct an anonymous survey on issues related to depression, anxiety symptoms, PTSD symptoms, well-being, and alcohol use. Just over 700 staff completed the studies, including 291 doctors (41%), 344 nurses (48.5%), and 74 other health care workers (10.4%).
The introduction stated that over half (58.8%) of participants reported good health on the Edinburgh Warwick Mental Health Scale (n = 418, 58.8%). However, 45.4% (n = 322) met the threshold for clinical significance that is likely to be at least one of the following measures: depression (6.3%), PTSD (39.5%), severe anxiety (11.3% ), or drinking trouble (7.2%).
The survey also found that 13.4% of respondents reported thinking they would be better off dying, or hurting themselves several days or more often in the two weeks before completing the survey. Nurses were more likely to report these views than other health care workers (19.2% v 7.6% for doctors and 9.5% for clinical staff.)
The introduction said, “While further empirical studies are needed to better understand the proportion that met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD on clinical evaluation, these data suggest that clinical ICUs at much higher risk of suffering from PTSD.
“Our findings of high levels of PTSD, and other mental health problems such as major depressive disorder, are particularly relevant as there is strong evidence that poor mental health is linked to inaction. the risk from patient safety incidents. ”
One major limitation of the study was that there was no baseline for comparing these numbers as no study had been conducted prior to the pandemic. The authors noted that a 2015 survey of 335 ICU employees reported that PTSD was 8% among employees working with adults and 17% among employees working with children.
Talking to Am BMJ, Clare Gerada – who runs the NHS Consumer Health Program (PHP) – identified a number of limitations in the study, including that people who completed the survey were more likely to report problems. She said, however, that the PHP, which helps doctors and dentists across England with mental illness and addiction problems, has seen high levels of mental health problems among doctors during the pandemic, particularly for depression.
At the same time, BMA mental health director Andrew Molodynski said the decisions were “extremely difficult, but unfortunately not surprising.” ”
“The latest BMA finding found that almost 60% of doctors in England, Wales and Northern Ireland now suffer from some form of anxiety or depression, with 46% saying that their situation had worsened since the outbreak began, “he said.
“This research highlights the importance of fostering a supportive culture in the workplace, and the need to provide universal access to high quality wellbeing support and occupational health services in general. Similarly, health and care workers need to be protected at work so it is vital that they get vaccinated immediately so that they can be fit and healthy to continue to provide care. and keeping services running at a time when the NHS is under unprecedented pressure. ”
The research was funded by the National Institute for Health and Public Health Research in England. One of the researchers works for NHS England.