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Post-traumatic stress in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2024

Z. Athimni ,
N. Belhadj Chabbeh ,
S. Chatti ,
F. Chelly ,
L. Ben Afia ,
M. Bouhoula ,
A. Chouchane ,
A. Aloui ,
I. Kacem  and
M. Maoua
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Z. Athimni
Affiliation:
1Occupational Medicine and Professional Pathologies Department, Farhat Hached Teaching Hospital, Avenue Ibn El Jazzar, Sousse, 4000, Tunisia
N. Belhadj Chabbeh
Affiliation:
2Occupational Medicine and Professional Pathologies Department, Sahloul Teaching Hospital, Tunisia, Sousse, Tunisia
S. Chatti
Affiliation:
1Occupational Medicine and Professional Pathologies Department, Farhat Hached Teaching Hospital, Avenue Ibn El Jazzar, Sousse, 4000, Tunisia
F. Chelly
Affiliation:
2Occupational Medicine and Professional Pathologies Department, Sahloul Teaching Hospital, Tunisia, Sousse, Tunisia
L. Ben Afia
Affiliation:
1Occupational Medicine and Professional Pathologies Department, Farhat Hached Teaching Hospital, Avenue Ibn El Jazzar, Sousse, 4000, Tunisia
M. Bouhoula
Affiliation:
1Occupational Medicine and Professional Pathologies Department, Farhat Hached Teaching Hospital, Avenue Ibn El Jazzar, Sousse, 4000, Tunisia
A. Chouchane
Affiliation:
1Occupational Medicine and Professional Pathologies Department, Farhat Hached Teaching Hospital, Avenue Ibn El Jazzar, Sousse, 4000, Tunisia
A. Aloui
Affiliation:
1Occupational Medicine and Professional Pathologies Department, Farhat Hached Teaching Hospital, Avenue Ibn El Jazzar, Sousse, 4000, Tunisia
I. Kacem*
Affiliation:
1Occupational Medicine and Professional Pathologies Department, Farhat Hached Teaching Hospital, Avenue Ibn El Jazzar, Sousse, 4000, Tunisia
M. Maoua
Affiliation:
1Occupational Medicine and Professional Pathologies Department, Farhat Hached Teaching Hospital, Avenue Ibn El Jazzar, Sousse, 4000, Tunisia
A. Brahem
Affiliation:
1Occupational Medicine and Professional Pathologies Department, Farhat Hached Teaching Hospital, Avenue Ibn El Jazzar, Sousse, 4000, Tunisia
H. Kalboussi
Affiliation:
1Occupational Medicine and Professional Pathologies Department, Farhat Hached Teaching Hospital, Avenue Ibn El Jazzar, Sousse, 4000, Tunisia
O. El Maalel
Affiliation:
1Occupational Medicine and Professional Pathologies Department, Farhat Hached Teaching Hospital, Avenue Ibn El Jazzar, Sousse, 4000, Tunisia
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals worked under critical care conditions and had to adapt quickly to extreme work situations. They were confronted with several occupational stressors.

Objectives

To determine the prevalence and factors associated with post-traumatic stress symptoms among healthcare personnel at Farhat Hached Hospital in Sousse during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among care staff at the Farhat Hached University Hospital in Sousse over a 3-month period during the 4th wave of COVID-19. Data were collected using a questionnaire covering socio-professional and medical data. Post-traumatic stress symptoms were assessed using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS.23 software.

Results

Our study included 326 health professionals from the CHU Farhat Hached. The mean age of our population was 36.38 ±10.19 years. The sex ratio was 0.23. Most healthcare staff were married (61.3%) and had dependent children (60.4%). Nurses were the most represented at 32.2%, followed by health technicians (22.7%) and medical residents (18.4%). Average job tenure was 10.62±10.69 years, with extremes ranging from 1 to 39 years. The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder was 32.5%. Paramedics were more likely to develop post-traumatic stress symptoms (OR=2.3 (IC95%: 1.4-3.8), p=0.001). Leisure activities were protective factors against post-traumatic stress symptoms (OR=0.4 (IC95%: 0.2-0.8), p=0.018). The multivariate analytical study revealed that being a paramedic and having a personal history of COVID19 infection were independently associated with post-traumatic stress symptoms.

Conclusions

Our results demonstrated the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of healthcare personnel. Lessons learned from this pandemic should help in the development of context-specific strategies to support healthcare workers and promote the protection of their mental health.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 67 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 32nd European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2024 , pp. S666 - S667
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Psychiatric Association
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