Longitudinal profile of post-traumatic symptoms in HealthCare Workers during COVID-19 pandemic: A latent transition model

André Luiz de Carvalho Braule Pinto; Alexandre Luiz de Oliveira Serpa; Rafaela Ferreira Guatimosim; Danielle Souza Costa; Jonas Jardim de Paula; Antônio Geraldo da Silva; Alexandre Paim Diaz; Débora Marques de Miranda; Leandro Fernandes Malloy-Diniz

doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.10.031

Longitudinal profile of post-traumatic symptoms in HealthCare Workers during COVID-19 pandemic: A latent transition model

J Psychiatr Res. 2023 Dec:168:230-239. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.10.031. Epub 2023 Oct 25.

Authors

André Luiz de Carvalho Braule Pinto¹, Alexandre Luiz de Oliveira Serpa², Rafaela Ferreira Guatimosim³, Danielle Souza Costa⁴, Jonas Jardim de Paula⁵, Antônio Geraldo da Silva⁶, Alexandre Paim Diaz⁷, Débora Marques de Miranda⁸, Leandro Fernandes Malloy-Diniz⁹

Affiliations

¹ SAMBE-Instituto de Saúde Mental Baseada em Evidências, Department of Mental Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil; Post Graduation Department in Molecular Medicine, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Departamento de Ensino e Pesquisa (DENPE), Fundação de Medicina Tropical Dr. Heitor Vieira Dourado, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil; Clinical Neuroscience Lab (LINC), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: braulepintoalc@alumni.usp.br.
² SAMBE-Instituto de Saúde Mental Baseada em Evidências, Department of Mental Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil; SCNLab, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde e do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Distúrbios do Desenvolvimento, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: serpa.alexandre@gmail.com.
³ SAMBE-Instituto de Saúde Mental Baseada em Evidências, Department of Mental Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil; Clinical Neuroscience Lab (LINC), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: rafaelaferreiraguatimosim@gmail.com.
⁴ SAMBE-Instituto de Saúde Mental Baseada em Evidências, Department of Mental Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil; Clinical Neuroscience Lab (LINC), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: daniellesouza.psi@gmail.com.
⁵ SAMBE-Instituto de Saúde Mental Baseada em Evidências, Department of Mental Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil; Department of Mental Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: jonasjardim@gmail.com.
⁶ SAMBE-Instituto de Saúde Mental Baseada em Evidências, Department of Mental Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil; Associação Brasileira de Psiquiatria (ABP), Department of Mental Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: sanaf551@terra.com.br.
⁷ SAMBE-Instituto de Saúde Mental Baseada em Evidências, Department of Mental Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil; Associação Brasileira de Psiquiatria (ABP), Department of Mental Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester, New York, USA. Electronic address: alexandrepaimdiaz@gmail.com.
⁸ SAMBE-Instituto de Saúde Mental Baseada em Evidências, Department of Mental Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil; Post Graduation Department in Molecular Medicine, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Department of Pediatrics, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: debora.m.miranda@gmail.com.
⁹ SAMBE-Instituto de Saúde Mental Baseada em Evidências, Department of Mental Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil; Post Graduation Department in Molecular Medicine, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Clinical Neuroscience Lab (LINC), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil; Department of Mental Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Electronic address: malloy.diniz@gmail.com.

PMID: 37922597
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.10.031

Abstract

Introduction: Pandemics have the potential to be considered traumatic event, increasing the risk of developing post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in HealthCare Workers (HCW). However, few longitudinal studies have evaluated the impact of prolonged exposure to the risk imposed by COVID-19. Our aim was to identify subgroups of HCW with profiles of PTSS, how this profile changed during the pandemic and which variables were related to these changes.

Methods: We evaluated the levels of PTSS and psychological distress in a Brazilian HealthCare Workers' sample (n = 1398) in three waves of assessment: from May to June 2020 (Wave 1), December 2020 to February 2021 (Wave 2) and May to August 2021 (Wave 3), using Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) to identify subgroups with different profiles of symptms, and then, Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) was applied to examine changes in symptom profiles over time, including gender, psychiatric diagnosis history, and pandemic-related fears as covariates.

Results: two profiles were identified: high-PTSS profile (Wave 1-23%; Wave 2-64% and Wave 3-73%) and a low-PTSS (Wave 1-77%; Wave 2-36% and Wave 3-27%). Being female, fear of contamination, and fearing financial problems were strong predictors of changes in the profile. In addition, the participants had a high probability of being in the high-PTSS in the long run.

Conclusion: These results suggests that targeted interventions can mitigate the impact of pandemic. Providing financial support, and psychological support can be beneficial for those with psychiatric diagnoses and experiencing bereavement.

Keywords: COVID-19; Latent profile; Latent transition; Posttraumatic stress symptoms.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Fear
Female
Health Personnel / psychology
Humans
Male
Pandemics
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic* / epidemiology
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic* / psychology