einstein (São Paulo). 25/Oct/2021;19:eAO6281.

2021 Award – Eric Roger Wroclawski 2nd Place

Occupational psychosocial stressors and mental distress among healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic

João Silvestre Silva-Junior ORCID logo , Arthur Arantes da Cunha ORCID logo , Daniela Campos de Andrade Lourenção ORCID logo , Silmar Maria da Silva ORCID logo , Renata Flavia Abreu da Silva ORCID logo , Magda Guimarães de Araujo Faria ORCID logo , Vivian Aline Mininel ORCID logo , Mirian Cristina dos Santos Almeida ORCID logo , Patrícia Campos Pavan Baptista ORCID logo , Cristiane Helena Gallasch ORCID logo

DOI: 10.31744/einstein_journal/2021AO6281

ABSTRACT

Objective

To analyze the factors associated with mental distress among health workers who cared for patients with a suspected or confirmed diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods

A cross-sectional analytical study of national scope, carried out between in the second quarter of 2020. A total of 437 health professionals, who filled out an electronic form about sociodemographic data, occupational aspects, psychosocial characteristics of work and mental distress. Multiple logistic regression was performed to analyze the covariables associated with mental distress.

Results

There was a predominance of workers on the nursing team (65.0%), female (71.0%), from Southeastern region of the country (68.6%) and with no morbidities (36.2%). The prevalence of mental distress was 61.6%. Job strain was reported by 24% of participants, and the perception of low support from coworkers was described by 52.9%. The final multiple regression model showed that mental distress was associated with females (odds ratio – OR: 1.93; 95%CI: 1.22-3.07), age up to 40 years (OR: 1.64; 95%CI: 1.07-2.52), weekly working hours equal or over 60 hours (OR: 1.87; 95%CI: 1.15-3.11), job strain (OR: 2.45; 95%CI: 1.41-4.40) and low support from co-workers (OR: 3.47; 95%CI: 2.26-5.38).

Conclusion

Six out of ten participants presented mental distress, which was associated to both individual characteristics and factors related to the work carried out during the pandemic. There is an urgent need to map services that have such characteristics, to outline actions to promote mental health and prevent emotional distress at different levels of health care.

Occupational psychosocial stressors and mental distress among healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic