Tom Roberts
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
Roberts, Tom; Daniels, Jo; Hulme, William; Hirst, Robert; Horner, Daniel; Lyttle, Mark D.; Samuel, Katie; Graham, Blair; Reynard, Charlie; Barrett, Michael; Foley, James; Cronin, John; Umana, Etimbuk; Vinagre, Joao; Carlton, Edward
Authors
Jo Daniels
William Hulme
Robert Hirst
Daniel Horner
Mark Lyttle mark.lyttle@uwe.ac.uk
Katie Samuel
Blair Graham
Charlie Reynard
Michael Barrett
James Foley
John Cronin
Etimbuk Umana
Joao Vinagre
Edward Carlton
Contributors
Mark Lyttle mark.lyttle@uwe.ac.uk
Project Member
Abstract
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.
Citation
Roberts, T., Daniels, J., Hulme, W., Hirst, R., Horner, D., Lyttle, M. D., …Carlton, E. (2021). 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. Emergency Medicine Journal, 38(6), 450-459. https://doi.org/10.1136/emermed-2020-210438
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Mar 3, 2021 |
Online Publication Date | Apr 8, 2021 |
Publication Date | 2021 |
Deposit Date | May 5, 2021 |
Publicly Available Date | May 6, 2021 |
Journal | Emergency Medicine Journal |
Print ISSN | 1472-0205 |
Electronic ISSN | 1472-0213 |
Publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 38 |
Issue | 6 |
Pages | 450-459 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1136/emermed-2020-210438 |
Keywords | Critical Care and Intensive Care Medicine; Emergency Medicine; General Medicine |
Public URL | https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7337266 |
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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
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This article has been accepted for publication in Emergency Medicine Journal (2021) following peer review, and the Version of Record can be accessed online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/emermed-2020-210438.
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Reuse of this manuscript version (excluding any databases, tables, diagrams, photographs and other images or illustrative material included where a another copyright owner is identified) is permitted strictly pursuant to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC-BY-NC 4.0) http://creativecommons.org
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
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Licence
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Publisher Licence URL
http://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved
Copyright Statement
This article has been accepted for publication in Emergency Medicine Journal (2021) following peer review, and the Version of Record can be accessed online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/emermed-2020-210438.
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Reuse of this manuscript version (excluding any databases, tables, diagrams, photographs and other images or illustrative material included where a another copyright owner is identified) is permitted strictly pursuant to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC-BY-NC 4.0) http://creativecommons.org
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