Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Among Healthcare Workers Diagnosed With COVID-19 in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2020 to 2021

Moderating effect of work fatigue on the association between resilience and posttraumatic stress symptoms: a cross-sectional multi-country study among pharmacists during the COVID-19 pandemic

INTRODUCTION

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmacists, despite their vital contributions, have faced significant challenges that have impacted their mental well-being, potentially leading to the development of Post-Traumatic Stress symptoms (PTSS). The aim of this study was to investigate the role of work-related fatigue as a potential moderator in the relationship between pharmacists' resilience and their likelihood of experiencing PTSS during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was conducted online in eight countries from January to December 2021, including Brazil, Lebanon, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Serbia, and Tunisia. The mediation analysis was conducted using PROCESS MACRO (an SPSS add-on) v3.4 model 1, taking work fatigue as a moderator in the association between resilience and PTSS.

RESULTS

A total of 442 pharmacists were enrolled in this study (mean age = 33.91 ± 10.36 years) with 59.5% of them being females. The results were adjusted over country, gender, working in contact with COVID-19, working patients, working mandatory hours, working voluntary hours, age, household crowding index and number of months engaged in COVID-19. The interactions resilience by physical (Beta = 0.02; p = .029), mental (Beta = 0.02; p = .040) and emotional (Beta = 0.03; p = .008) work fatigue were significantly associated with PTSS; for pharmacists with low to moderate levels of physical (Beta = - 0.33; p < .001 and Beta = - 0.21; p = .001), mental (Beta = - 0.29; p < .001 and Beta = - 0.18; p = .006) and emotional (Beta = - 0.31; p < .001 and Beta = - 0.17; p = .008) work fatigue, higher resilience was significantly related to lower PTSS levels. However, for pharmacists with high levels of physical/mental/emotional work fatigue, the association between resilience and PTSS became non-significant.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights the complex relationship between work-related fatigue, resilience, and PTSS in pharmacists. It emphasizes the need to address work-related fatigue for pharmacists' psychological well-being during crises, offering insights for tailored support and interventions.

Post-traumatic stress in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has increased healthcare worker (HCW) susceptibility to mental illness. We conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the prevalence and possible factors associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among HCW during the COVID-19 pandemic. We searched PubMed, SCOPUS and EMBASE databases up to May 4th, 2022. We performed random effects meta-analysis and moderator analyses for the prevalence of PTSD-relevant symptoms and severe PTSD symptoms. We identified 1276 studies, reviewed 209 full-text articles, and included 119 studies (117,143 participants) with a total of 121 data points in our final analysis. 34 studies (24,541 participants) reported prevalence of severe PTSD symptoms. Approximately 25.2% of participants were physicians, 42.8% nurses, 12.4% allied health professionals, 8.9% auxiliary health professionals, and 10.8% "other". The pooled prevalence of PTSD symptoms among HCWs was 34% (95% CI, 0.30-0.39, I² >90%), and 14% for severe PTSD (95% CI, 0.11 - 0.17, I² >90%). The introduction of COVID vaccines was associated with a sharp decline in the prevalence of PTSD, and new virus variants were associated with small increases in PTSD rates. It is important that policies work towards allocating adequate resources towards protecting the well-being of healthcare workers to minimize adverse consequences of PTSD.

Polish Version of the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Related to COVID-19 Questionnaire COVID-19-PTSD

OBJECTIVE

Translate and investigate psychometric properties of the Polish version of COVID-19-PTSD in a sample of healthcare workers.

METHODS

The PTSD symptoms were investigated among 184 participants (physicians, nurses, and paramedics). The respondents completed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Related to COVID-19 Questionnaire (COVID-19-PTSD) via online survey. The psychometric properties (i.e., internal consistency, validity, and reliability) of the Polish version of COVID-19-PTSD were analyzed.

RESULTS

The findings showed that the Polish version of COVID-19-PTSD is a reliable instrument. The total and subscale scores demonstrated good internal consistency. We also found that the prevalence of PTSD was reported at around 32% of healthcare workers.

DISCUSSION

The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Related to COVID-19 Questionnaire (COVID-19-PTSD) is a first tool designed to assess the severity of PTSD symptoms related to the pandemic. The findings of our study confirmed good validity and reliability of the Polish version of COVID-19-PTSD which can be recommended to be used as a reliable screening tool to conduct psychological screening among Polish healthcare workers.