Quality of Life, Insomnia and Coping Strategies during COVID-19 Pandemic in Hospital Workers. A Cross-Sectional Study

Sebastiano Italia; Chiara Costa; Giusi Briguglio; Carmela Mento; Maria Rosaria Anna Muscatello; Angela Alibrandi; Francesca Larese Filon; Giovanna Spatari; Michele Teodoro; Concettina Fenga

doi:10.3390/ijerph182312466

Quality of Life, Insomnia and Coping Strategies during COVID-19 Pandemic in Hospital Workers. A Cross-Sectional Study

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Nov 26;18(23):12466. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182312466.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, Occupational Medicine Section, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.
² Clinical and Experimental Medicine Department, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.
³ Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, Clinical Psychology, Psychiatric Unit, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.
⁴ Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, Psychiatric Unit, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.
⁵ Department of Economics, University of Messina, 98125 Messina, Italy.
⁶ Department of Medical Sciences, Clinical Unit of Occupational Medicine, University of Trieste, 34100 Trieste, Italy.

Abstract

COVID-19 became a pandemic in a few months, leading to adverse health outcomes, reducing the quality of life, affecting the sleep/wake cycle, and altering coping strategies, especially among hospital personnel. Life quality, insomnia, and coping strategies were thus assessed among hospital personnel during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. This cross-sectional study was conducted from May to November 2020 through an online survey. There were 558 participants (28.5% males and 71.5% females) enrolled in two different metropolitan areas (in North and South of Italy, respectively). Three standardized questionnaires were administered: European Quality of life-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D), Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), and Brief COPE. Differences in sociodemographic characteristics and work-related factors were also investigated in order to identify possible predictors through a generalized linear model and logistic regression analysis. Results showed good perceived life quality and high insomnia prevalence. After sample stratification, the statistical analysis highlighted that personal (gender, age, educational level) and work-related factors (employment in COVID wards, remote working) played different roles in predicting quality of life, insomnia, and coping attitude. Active, Planning, and Acceptance were the most frequently adopted coping strategies. Despite women confirming their attitude in reacting to the difficulties, adopting emotion-focused coping strategies, they showed a higher probability to develop insomnia, so a gender perspective should be considered in the health protection of this working category. An integrated approach should be implemented at individual, interpersonal and organizational levels aiming to monitor psychological distress, favor regular sharing and communication between peers, and also allow conciliation of work with family life. At the organizational level, preventive and protective measures adequate to work-related risk to COVID-19 should be adopted.

Keywords: COVID-19; coping strategy; hospital workers; insomnia; quality of life.

MeSH terms

Adaptation, Psychological
COVID-19*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Hospitals
Humans
Male
Pandemics
Personnel, Hospital
Quality of Life
SARS-CoV-2
Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders* / epidemiology