The Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Frontline Healthcare Workers. A Systematic Review and a Meta-Analysis

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has created a chronically stressful work environment for healthcare workers, increasing the negative psychological effects experienced. Aims: The authors of this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on frontline healthcare wor...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Samantha So, Brian Edward Yu, Monali S. Malvankar-Mehta, Teng Qing Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Semmelweis University Institute of Mental Health 2023-02-01
Series:European Journal of Mental Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://semmelweis.hu/ejmh/2023/02/27/the-psychological-impact-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/
Description
Summary:Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has created a chronically stressful work environment for healthcare workers, increasing the negative psychological effects experienced. Aims: The authors of this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on frontline healthcare workers’ mental health, using various psychological outcomes. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted up until June 30th, 2022 on MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Dissertations and Theses. Results: This meta-analysis includes 22 cross-sectional studies with a total of 32,690 participants. Anxiety (ES = 0.23, CI: [0.18, 0.28]), depression (ES = 0.17, CI: [0.10, 0.24]), PTSD (ES = 0.28, CI: [0.08, 0.48]), and stress (ES = 0.35, CI: [0.17, 0.53]) was significantly prevalent among frontline healthcare workers. Conclusions: Our results suggested that European healthcare workers were experiencing high psychological symptoms associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The monitoring of their psychological symptoms, preventative interventions, and treatments should be implemented to prevent, reduce, and treat the worsening of their mental health.
ISSN:1788-7119