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Traumatic stress symptoms among Spanish healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a prospective study
- Ana Portillo-Van Diest, Gemma Vilagut, Itxaso Alayo, Montse Ferrer, Franco Amigo, Benedikt L. Amann, Andrés Aragón-Peña, Enric Aragonès, Ángel Asúnsolo Del Barco, Mireia Campos, Isabel Del Cura-González, Meritxell Espuga, Ana González-Pinto, Josep M. Haro, Amparo Larrauri, Nieves López-Fresneña, Alma Martínez de Salázar, Juan D. Molina, Rafael M. Ortí-Lucas, Mara Parellada, José M. Pelayo-Terán, Aurora Pérez-Zapata, José I. Pijoan, Nieves Plana, Teresa Puig, Cristina Rius, Carmen Rodríguez-Blázquez, Ferran Sanz, Consol Serra, Iratxe Urreta-Barallobre, Ronald C. Kessler, Ronny Bruffaerts, Eduard Vieta, Víctor Pérez-Solá, Jordi Alonso, Philippe Mortier, MINDCOVID Working Group
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- Journal:
- Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences / Volume 32 / 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 09 August 2023, e50
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- Article
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Aim
To investigate the occurrence of traumatic stress symptoms (TSS) among healthcare workers active during the COVID-19 pandemic and to obtain insight as to which pandemic-related stressful experiences are associated with onset and persistence of traumatic stress.
MethodsThis is a multicenter prospective cohort study. Spanish healthcare workers (N = 4,809) participated at an initial assessment (i.e., just after the first wave of the Spain COVID-19 pandemic) and at a 4-month follow-up assessment using web-based surveys. Logistic regression investigated associations of 19 pandemic-related stressful experiences across four domains (infection-related, work-related, health-related and financial) with TSS prevalence, incidence and persistence, including simulations of population attributable risk proportions (PARP).
ResultsThirty-day TSS prevalence at T1 was 22.1%. Four-month incidence and persistence were 11.6% and 54.2%, respectively. Auxiliary nurses had highest rates of TSS prevalence (35.1%) and incidence (16.1%). All 19 pandemic-related stressful experiences under study were associated with TSS prevalence or incidence, especially experiences from the domains of health-related (PARP range 88.4–95.6%) and work-related stressful experiences (PARP range 76.8–86.5%). Nine stressful experiences were also associated with TSS persistence, of which having patient(s) in care who died from COVID-19 had the strongest association. This association remained significant after adjusting for co-occurring depression and anxiety.
ConclusionsTSSs among Spanish healthcare workers active during the COVID-19 pandemic are common and associated with various pandemic-related stressful experiences. Future research should investigate if these stressful experiences represent truly traumatic experiences and carry risk for the development of post-traumatic stress disorder.