TY - JOUR
T1 - Psychological distress during the acceleration phase of the COVID-19 pandemic: a survey of doctors practising in emergency medicine, anaesthesia and intensive care medicine in the UK and Ireland
AU - Roberts, Tom
AU - Daniels, Jo
AU - Hulme, William
AU - Hirst, Robert
AU - Horner, Daniel
AU - Lyttle, Mark D
AU - Samuel, Katie
AU - Graham, Blair
AU - Reynard, Charlie
AU - Barrett, Michael
AU - Foley, James
AU - Cronin, John
AU - Umana, Etimbuk
AU - Vinagre, Joao
AU - Carlton, Edward
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Author(s) (or their employer(s)).
PY - 2021/4/8
Y1 - 2021/4/8
N2 - OBJECTIVE: To quantify psychological distress experienced by emergency, anaesthetic and intensive care doctors during the acceleration phase of COVID-19 in the UK and Ireland.METHODS: Initial cross-sectional electronic survey distributed during acceleration phase of the first pandemic wave of COVID-19 in the UK and Ireland (UK: 18 March 2020-26 March 2020 and Ireland: 25 March 2020-2 April 2020). Surveys were distributed via established specialty research networks, within a three-part longitudinal study. Participants were doctors working in emergency, anaesthetic and intensive medicine during the first pandemic wave of COVID-19 in acute hospitals across the UK and Ireland. Primary outcome measures were the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12). Additional questions examined personal and professional characteristics, experiences of COVID-19 to date, risk to self and others and self-reported perceptions of health and well-being.RESULTS: 5440 responses were obtained, 54.3% (n=2955) from emergency medicine and 36.9% (n=2005) from anaesthetics. All levels of doctor seniority were represented. For the primary outcome of GHQ-12 score, 44.2% (n=2405) of respondents scored >3, meeting the criteria for psychological distress. 57.3% (n=3045) had never previously provided clinical care during an infectious disease outbreak but over half of respondents felt somewhat prepared (48.6%, n=2653) or very prepared (7.6%, n=416) to provide clinical care to patients with COVID-19. However, 81.1% (n=4414) either agreed (31.1%, n=2709) or strongly agreed (31.1%, n=1705) that their personal health was at risk due to their clinical role.CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that during the acceleration phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost half of frontline doctors working in acute care reported psychological distress as measured by the GHQ-12. Findings from this study should inform strategies to optimise preparedness and explore modifiable factors associated with increased psychological distress in the short and long term.TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN10666798.
AB - OBJECTIVE: To quantify psychological distress experienced by emergency, anaesthetic and intensive care doctors during the acceleration phase of COVID-19 in the UK and Ireland.METHODS: Initial cross-sectional electronic survey distributed during acceleration phase of the first pandemic wave of COVID-19 in the UK and Ireland (UK: 18 March 2020-26 March 2020 and Ireland: 25 March 2020-2 April 2020). Surveys were distributed via established specialty research networks, within a three-part longitudinal study. Participants were doctors working in emergency, anaesthetic and intensive medicine during the first pandemic wave of COVID-19 in acute hospitals across the UK and Ireland. Primary outcome measures were the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12). Additional questions examined personal and professional characteristics, experiences of COVID-19 to date, risk to self and others and self-reported perceptions of health and well-being.RESULTS: 5440 responses were obtained, 54.3% (n=2955) from emergency medicine and 36.9% (n=2005) from anaesthetics. All levels of doctor seniority were represented. For the primary outcome of GHQ-12 score, 44.2% (n=2405) of respondents scored >3, meeting the criteria for psychological distress. 57.3% (n=3045) had never previously provided clinical care during an infectious disease outbreak but over half of respondents felt somewhat prepared (48.6%, n=2653) or very prepared (7.6%, n=416) to provide clinical care to patients with COVID-19. However, 81.1% (n=4414) either agreed (31.1%, n=2709) or strongly agreed (31.1%, n=1705) that their personal health was at risk due to their clinical role.CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that during the acceleration phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost half of frontline doctors working in acute care reported psychological distress as measured by the GHQ-12. Findings from this study should inform strategies to optimise preparedness and explore modifiable factors associated with increased psychological distress in the short and long term.TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN10666798.
KW - Adult
KW - Aged
KW - Anesthesia/statistics & numerical data
KW - COVID-19/epidemiology
KW - Critical Care/statistics & numerical data
KW - Cross-Sectional Studies
KW - Emergency Medicine/statistics & numerical data
KW - Female
KW - Humans
KW - Ireland/epidemiology
KW - Male
KW - Middle Aged
KW - Occupational Stress/epidemiology
KW - Physicians/psychology
KW - Psychological Distress
KW - Surveys and Questionnaires
KW - United Kingdom/epidemiology
KW - Young Adult
U2 - 10.1136/emermed-2020-210438
DO - 10.1136/emermed-2020-210438
M3 - Article
C2 - 33832926
SN - 1472-0205
VL - 38
SP - 450
EP - 459
JO - Emergency Medicine Journal
JF - Emergency Medicine Journal
IS - 6
ER -
