A Longitudinal Study on the Changes in Mental Health of Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective: This study examines Argentinean health care workers in order to 1) test self-perceived job performance levels and the presence of psychological symptoms compatible with common mental disorders, and 2) examine within-person changes in general discomfort and psychological distress, adjustin...

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Autores principales: López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia, Herrera, Carla Romina, Fong, Shao Bing, Godoy, Juan Carlos
Formato: article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.2021.1940469
http://hdl.handle.net/11086/20083
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00332747.2021.1940469
Aporte de:
id I10-R14111086-20083
record_format dspace
institution Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
institution_str I-10
repository_str R-141
collection Repositorio Digital Universitario (UNC)
language Inglés
topic Covid 19
Health care
Workers
Psychological symptoms
Mental disorders
Psychological distress
Pandemic
spellingShingle Covid 19
Health care
Workers
Psychological symptoms
Mental disorders
Psychological distress
Pandemic
López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia
Herrera, Carla Romina
Fong, Shao Bing
Godoy, Juan Carlos
A Longitudinal Study on the Changes in Mental Health of Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic
topic_facet Covid 19
Health care
Workers
Psychological symptoms
Mental disorders
Psychological distress
Pandemic
description Objective: This study examines Argentinean health care workers in order to 1) test self-perceived job performance levels and the presence of psychological symptoms compatible with common mental disorders, and 2) examine within-person changes in general discomfort and psychological distress, adjusting for demographic factors, region, and health-related factors during two time points of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: This longitudinal study comprised 305 healthcare workers who completed a survey at two time points approximately 4 months apart. We used the General Health Questionnaire and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale to measure mental health outcomes. To address the first aim we calculated differences (Student’s t test for paired samples) and correlations (Pearson’s r coefficient). To address the second aim we used fixed effects model by means of a multilevel approach, a linear model that considers dependency in the data. Results: Self-perceived job performance deteriorated across time. From the first measurement to the four-month follow-up, more health care workers presented common mental disorders (40% vs 45.57%), depression, and/or anxiety (52.46% vs 62.62%). A meaningful worsening of mental health was observed in healthcare workers who expressed concern about being infected with COVID-19, whether asymptomatic (greater general discomfort and psychological distress) or symptomatic (greater general discomfort). Likewise, there were significant interactions between a history of mental disorder and concern about COVID-19 infection. Conclusions: Among healthcare workers, the uncertainty about the COVID-19 infection may have larger negative mental health impacts than actually being infected.
format article
author López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia
Herrera, Carla Romina
Fong, Shao Bing
Godoy, Juan Carlos
author_facet López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia
Herrera, Carla Romina
Fong, Shao Bing
Godoy, Juan Carlos
author_sort López Steinmetz, Lorena Cecilia
title A Longitudinal Study on the Changes in Mental Health of Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_short A Longitudinal Study on the Changes in Mental Health of Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full A Longitudinal Study on the Changes in Mental Health of Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_fullStr A Longitudinal Study on the Changes in Mental Health of Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full_unstemmed A Longitudinal Study on the Changes in Mental Health of Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_sort longitudinal study on the changes in mental health of healthcare workers during the covid-19 pandemic
publishDate 2021
url https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.2021.1940469
http://hdl.handle.net/11086/20083
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00332747.2021.1940469
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