The Psychological Impact of COVID-19 on Hospital Trainees in a New York City Hospital

Purpose

On January 7, 2020, China reported a group of cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). This novel virus spread rapidly to other countries. As of August 2020, there are close to 6 million diagnosed cases in the United States and 460,000 diagnosed cases in New York State. The purpose of this article is to examine the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on trainees in a New York City hospital. To achieve this goal, trainees of the Brooklyn Hospital Center were sent a questionnaire via e-mail. The questionnaire asked about the residents’ demographic characteristics, health information, and self-report questions regarding anxiety, depression, and PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder).

Methods

Participants were trainees at the Brooklyn Hospital Center from the OMFS (oral and maxillofacial surgery), general dentistry, and other medical departments. A 3-part survey including demographic information, a PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), and an impact of events score revised (IES-R) questionnaire was obtained. Descriptive analysis assessed participant demographic characteristics and mean scores on questionnaires. Additionally, independent samples t-test was used to determine statistical difference in mean scores on PHQ-9 and IES-R questionnaires between dental (OMFS and general dentistry) and medical specialties. Bivariate correlation was used to assess the relationship between scores on the PHQ-9 and IES-R questionnaires. Level of significance was accepted at .05.

Results

The mean score on the PHQ-9 questionnaire was significantly higher for dental compared to medical specialties (18.9 vs 7.24, P < .001). Likewise, for the IES-R questionnaire, the dental group scored significantly higher than the medical group (61.9 vs 30.36, P < .001). Furthermore, depression severity was much worse for the dental group: 7 (33.3% vs 8.9% medical, P < .001) were classified as severe and 12 (57.1% vs 8.9% medical, P = .013) were moderately severe.

Conclusion

Currently, trainees are facing enormous isolation, burnout, and fear of contracting and transmitting COVID-19.¹ Trainees are also facing concerns about inadequate training (clinical and didactic). Previous literature has demonstrated that one's physical location and holding an intermediate title during a pandemic were associated with severe depression, distress, and anxiety.^2-4 The participants of our study were trainees from the oral and maxillofacial surgery, general dentistry, and other medical specialty departments. The trainees from the dental department scored significantly higher on the IES-R and PHQ-9 questionnaires. Many participants had graduated from dental school less than a year ago. Additionally, this study was conducted in New York, which was the epicenter to the pandemic for a period of time. Being aware of the impact of the coronavirus on health care workers is an important step in providing intervention. This intervention may prevent the anxiety, depression, and PTSD seen after previous pandemics.