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20. Deutscher Kongress für Versorgungsforschung

Deutsches Netzwerk Versorgungsforschung e. V.

06. - 08.10.2021, digital

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Psychosocial burden and working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: the VOICE survey among 3,678 health care workers in hospitals

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  • Eva Morawa - University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Erlangen, Germany
  • Caterina Schug - University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Erlangen, Germany
  • Franziska Geiser - University Clinic of Bonn, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Bonn, Germany
  • Petra Beschoner - Ulm University Medical Center, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Ulm, Germany
  • Lucia Jerg-Bretzke - Ulm University Medical Center, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Ulm, Germany
  • Christian Albus - University Hospital of Cologne, Department of Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Cologne, Germany
  • Kerstin Weidner - Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität Dresden, Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Dresden, Germany
  • Nina Hiebel - University Clinic of Bonn, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Bonn, Germany
  • Andrea Borho - University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Erlangen, Germany
  • Yesim Erim - University Hospital of Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Erlangen, Germany

20. Deutscher Kongress für Versorgungsforschung (DKVF). sine loco [digital], 06.-08.10.2021. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2021. Doc21dkvf294

doi: 10.3205/21dkvf294, urn:nbn:de:0183-21dkvf2942

Published: September 27, 2021

© 2021 Morawa et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Outline

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Objective: The aim of this cross-sectional web-based study was to examine self-reported mental distress, psychosocial burdens, working conditions and potential risk and protective factors for depressive and anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in health care workers (HCW).

Methods: In the largest survey on mental health of HCW conducted during the first wave of COVID-19 in Europe (N=8071 HCW), we investigated depressive (Patient Health Questionnaire-2, PHQ-2), and anxiety symptoms (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2, GAD-2), working conditions, and psychosocial burden of 3678 HCW of three health care professions in hospitals: physicians (n=1061), nurses (n=1275), and medical technical assistants (MTA, n=1342).

Results: The prevalence of clinically significant levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms was 17.4% and 17.8% for physicians, 21.6% and 19.0% for nurses, and 23.0% and 20.1% for MTA, respectively. All three professions demonstrated significantly elevated PHQ-2 and GAD-2 scores, when compared with general German population before the pandemic, but lower scores in relation to that during the pandemic. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that higher levels of depressive symptoms were associated with insufficient recovery during leisure time, increased alcohol consumption, and less trust in colleagues in difficult situations. In addition, elevated anxiety scores were related to increased fear of becoming infected with COVID-19.

Conclusion: During the pandemic HCW demonstrated a lower burden of mental distress compared to the general population. Nevertheless, a high percentage of HCW demonstrates psychosocial distress, so that the establishment of regular mental health screening and prevention programmes for HCW is indicated.