Mental Health Symptoms among General Practitioners Facing the Acute Phase of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Detecting Different Reaction Groups

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Liliana Dell’Osso¹  Filippo Maria Barberi¹  Virginia Pedrinelli¹  Carlo Antonio Bertelloni¹  Valerio Dell’Oste¹  Claudia Carmassi¹ 

[1] Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy;

关键词: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD);    depression;    anxiety;    mental health burden;    burnout;    primary care;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph19074007

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

During the 2020 first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, general practitioners (GPs) represented the first line of primary care and were highly exposed to the pandemic risks, with a consequent risk of developing a wide range of mental health symptoms. However, scant data are still available on factors associated with a worse outcome. The aim of the present study was to investigate mental health symptoms in 139 GPs in the aftermath of the first COVID-19 national lockdown in Italy, detecting groups of subjects with different depressive, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptom severity. The impact of the mental health symptoms on quality of life and individual functioning were also evaluated. A cluster analysis identified three groups with mild (44.6%), moderate (35.3%), and severe psychopathological burden (20.1%). Higher symptom severity was related to younger age, fewer years in service as GPs, working in a high incidence area for the pandemic, having a relative at risk of medical complications due to COVID-19, besides more severe global functioning impairment, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. The present findings showed that GPs, forced to perform their professional activity in extremely stressful conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, were at high risk of developing mental health problems and a worse quality of life.

【 授权许可】

Unknown