2020s Heroes Are Not Fearless: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Wellbeing and Emotions of Italian Health Care Workers During Italy Phase 1

Giulia Marton; Laura Vergani; Ketti Mazzocco; Marina Chiara Garassino; Gabriella Pravettoni

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.588762

2020s Heroes Are Not Fearless: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Wellbeing and Emotions of Italian Health Care Workers During Italy Phase 1

Front Psychol. 2020 Oct 15:11:588762. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.588762. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Giulia Marton^{1

2}, Laura Vergani^{1

2}, Ketti Mazzocco^{1

2}, Marina Chiara Garassino³, Gabriella Pravettoni^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Applied Research Division for Cognitive and Psychological Science, IEO, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
² Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
³ Thoracic Oncology Unit, Division of Medical Oncology, Foundation IRCCS-Italian National Cancer Institute, Milan, Italy.

Abstract

Objective: The study aimed to investigate the mental health and emotional reaction of physicians working during phase 1 of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.

Methods: A total of 458 Italian Health Care Workers (HCWs) working during phases 1 of the COVID-19 outbreak were voluntarily enlisted in the study and recruited with the snowball technique through an online survey. We examined our variables with the General Health Questionnaire - 12 and with Visual Analog Scales.

Results: The sample has a high level of psychological distress 21.26 (SD = 4.46), the emotional reaction was characterized by high level of fear for family members and cohabitants (M = 77.67, SD = 27.16) and patients (M = 67.16, SD = 27.71). Perceived control, fear for patients, and for family members and cohabitants, feeling alone and anger all contribute to a decreased mental health in Italian physicians (R ² = 0.285, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Italian HCWs' mental health and emotional reaction have to be considered to prevent high risk of burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It becomes pivotal in the next months to implement a tailored psychological intervention to take care of HCWs and to prevent costly consequences for them, patients, and the healthcare system.

Keywords: COVID-19; distress; emotional reaction; health care workers; health care workers wellbeing.