Mental Health Outcomes among Frontline Health-Care Workers at Eka Kotebe National COVID-19 Treatment Center, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2020: A Cross-Sectional Study

Mental health status and related factors influencing healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

The mental health of healthcare workers during the coronavirus-2019 pandemic was seriously affected, and the risk of mental health problems was high. The present study sought to systematically evaluate the mental health problems of healthcare workers worldwide during the pandemic and to determine the latest global frequency of COVID-19 associated mental health problems.

METHODS

Data in the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), EMBASE, Elsevier, MEDLINE, PubMed, PsycINFO and the Web of Science before November 11, 2022, were systematically searched. Cohort, case-control and cross-sectional studies were included. The meta-analysis used a random effects model to synthesize the comprehensive prevalence rate of mental health problems. Subgroup analyses were performed based on time of data collection; whether the country was or was not developed; continent; doctors and nurses; doctors/nurses vs. other healthcare workers; and psychological evaluation scale.

RESULTS

A total of 161 studies were included, including 341,014 healthcare workers worldwide, with women accounting for 82.8%. Occupationally, 16.2% of the healthcare workers were doctors, 63.6% were nurses and 13.3% were other medical staff. During the pandemic, 47% (95% confidence interval [CI], 35-60%) of healthcare workers reported job burnout, 38% (95% CI, 35-41%) experienced anxiety, 34% (95% CI 30-38%) reported depression, 30% (95% CI, 29-31%) had acute stress disorder, and 26% (95% CI, 21-31%) had post-traumatic stress disorder.

CONCLUSIONS

The study found that there were common mental health problems among health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The most common was job burnout, followed by anxiety, depression, acute stress and post-traumatic stress disorder. Although the global pandemic has been brought under control, its long-term impact on the mental health of healthcare workers cannot be ignored. Additional research is required to develop measures to prevent, monitor and treat psychological disorders among healthcare workers.

Mental health problems among healthcare professionals during COVID-19 in Africa: a protocol for umbrella review

INTRODUCTION

COVID-19 pandemic is a global health problem. In Africa, healthcare professionals face mental health problems due to COVID-19. But little was done on the prevalence of mental disorders among healthcare professionals during COVID-19 in Africa. This umbrella review of meta-analysis aimed to provide the pooled prevalence of anxiety, depression, stress, suicide, demoralisation and insomnia during COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

We will search the African Journals Online, MedRxiv, PubMed and Google Scholar to identify studies published from the occurrence of the pandemic to March 2023. Systematic review and meta-analysis studies assessing mental health problems among healthcare professionals in Africa will be considered. The outcomes of interest include prevalence of mental health problems on healthcare professionals following COVID-19. Two researchers will extract data and execute quality assessment independently. The Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklist will be used to assess the quality of studies. Stata V.16.0 software will be used for statistical analysis. The I² and Cochran's Q-statistics will be used for analysis of heterogeneity. Publication bias will be examined by DOI plot and Luis Furuya Kanamori (LFK) index.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Ethical approval and informed consent are not required as this is a literature review. The final results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at relevant conferences.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42022383939.

Anxiety and stress among healthcare professionals during COVID-19 in Ethiopia: systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

This study intended to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety and stress among healthcare professionals in Ethiopia.

DESIGN

This study applied a design of systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.

DATA SOURCES

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA AND OUTCOMES: Observational studies examining anxiety and stress among healthcare professionals in Ethiopia following COVID-19 pandemic were considered. The primary outcomes were the prevalence of anxiety and stress and the secondary outcomes were factors associated to the prevalence of anxiety and stress.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Two authors extracted the data and performed quality assessment independently. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to evaluate the quality of eligible studies. Random-effect model with the inverse variance method was used to estimate the pooled effect size of the outcome variables with its 95% CI. Publication bias was checked by DOI plot and Luis Furuya Kanamori index. Stata V.14.0 (StataCorp) software was used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

Thirteen studies were included. From eight studies the pooled prevalence of anxiety was 46% (95% CI 0.30% to 0.61%, τ²=0.0497, I²=99.07%, p<0.001). Nine studies reported about stress and the pooled prevalence was 51% (95% CI 0.41% to 0.62%, τ²=0.0253, I²=97.85%, p<0.001)). Age, sex, marital status, working department, history of contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases and profession were associated factors for high level of anxiety and stress.

CONCLUSIONS

COVID-19 pandemic highly affects mental health of healthcare professionals in Ethiopia. Anxiety and stress were among reported mental health problems among healthcare professionals during the pandemic. Timely psychological counselling programmes should be applied for healthcare professionals to improve the general mental health problems.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42022314865.

Validation of the Spanish Version of the Trauma and Loss Spectrum Self-Report (TALS-SR): A Study on Healthcare Workers Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background

The present study aimed at reporting about the validity and reliability of the Spanish version of the Trauma and Loss Spectrum-Self Report (TALS-SR), an instrument based on a multidimensional approach to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD), including a range of threatening or traumatic experiences and significant losses, besides the spectrum of peri-traumatic stress reactions and post-traumatic stress symptoms that may occur.

Methods

A sample of 87 Health Care Workers (HCWs) employed in the COVID-19 Emergency Department at the Virgen de la Arrixaca and Reina Sofia Hospitals (Murcia, Spain) during the pandemic, was consecutively recruited and fulfilled the TALS-SR. Assessments also included the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), to examine post-traumatic stress symptoms and probable PTSD. Nineteen HCWs fulfilled the TALS-SR again after three weeks from baseline for test-retest reliability.

Results

This study provides evidence of good internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the Spanish version of the TALS-SR. Strong support for the internal validity structure was obtained, with positive and significant correlations between the five symptomatologic domains and the symptomatologic total score. Significant and good correlations between the TALS-SR symptomatologic domains and the IES-R total and single domains' scores were found. The Questionnaire also demonstrated to discriminate between subjects with and without PTSD, with subjects with PTSD showing significantly higher mean scores in each domain of the TALS-SR.

Conclusion

This study validates the Spanish version of TALS-SR, providing a useful instrument for a spectrum approach to PTSD and confirms the potential utility of this psychometric tool in both clinical practice and research settings.

Depression and insomnia among healthcare professionals during COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction

Healthcare professionals play a great role in the struggle against COVID-19. They are highly susceptible to COVID-19 due to their responsibilities. This susceptibility directly affects their mental health status. Comprehensive evidence on prevalence of depression and insomnia during this pandemic is vital. Thus, this study aims to provide the pooled prevalence of depression and insomnia, and their associated factors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Materials and methods

This systematic review and meta-analysis follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Studies were searched from PubMed, Cochrane Library, CrossRef, African Journals Online and Google Scholar databases from the occurence of the pandemic to June 2022. Study selection, data extraction and methodological quality assessment were done by two authors independently. The I ² statistics was used for testing heterogeneity. A random effect model was used. Stata version 16.0 was used for statistical analysis.

Results

Eight studies were incorporated for this systematic review and meta-analysis. From seven studies the pooled prevalence of depression was 40% (95% CI [0.23-0.57]; I ² = 99.00%; P = 0.00). From three studies the pooled prevalence of insomnia was 35% (95% CI [0.13-0.58]; I ² = 98.20; P = 0.00). Associated factors of depression on healthcare workers (HCWs) were being female pooled AOR: 2.09; 95% CI [1.41-2.76], been married (pooled AOR = 2.95; 95% CI [1.83-4.07]). Due to limited studies available on the factors associated with insomnia, it is impossible to pool and associated factors were presented in narrative synthesis.

Conclusion

COVID-19 is highly associated with the prevalence of depression and insomnia among healthcare professionals in Ethiopia. The pooled prevalence of depression and insomnia were significantly higher among healthcare professionals. Appropriate psychological counseling package should be realized for healthcare workers (HCWs) in order to recover the general mental health problems. Trial registration. This review was registered PROSPERO with registration number CRD42022314865.