Medical Students and Professionals Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study about Similarities and Differences
This study aimed at exploring the emotional reaction that medical students (MS) and professionals have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and investigating the differences between the two groups. A total of 362 MS and 330 professionals filled in an online survey during the second outbreak of the COV...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Behavioral Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/12/6/189 |
| _version_ | 1797489936987848704 |
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| author | Giacomo De Micheli Giulia Marton Davide Mazzoni Laura Vergani |
| author_facet | Giacomo De Micheli Giulia Marton Davide Mazzoni Laura Vergani |
| author_sort | Giacomo De Micheli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study aimed at exploring the emotional reaction that medical students (MS) and professionals have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and investigating the differences between the two groups. A total of 362 MS and 330 professionals filled in an online survey during the second outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. The outcome measures were psychological distress with the General Health Questionnaire, stress, fear for themselves, fear for family members and cohabitants, perceived control, anger, loneliness, and feeling abandoned by institutions with Visual Analog Scales (VAS) and two open-ended questions about their perceived difficulties and the perceived consequences of the pandemic. The results showed that the level of distress among the two groups was above the threshold (MS mean: 21.85; professionals mean: 21.25). The means of the VAS of MS and professionals showed different results for the two groups, and we analyzed them with independent samples <i>t</i>-tests and linear regressions. MS reported higher levels of perceived loneliness (<i>t</i>(673.177) = −1.970, <i>p</i> < 0.05), while physicians reported more fear for themselves (<i>t</i>(655.183) = 4.799, <i>p</i> < 0.001), anger (<i>t</i>(690) = 2.096, <i>p</i> < 0.05), and feeling abandoned by the institutions (<i>t</i>(690) = 7.296, <i>p</i> < 0.001). The open questions were analyzed considering the most frequent words used to describe their perceived difficulties and consequences; the specificity analysis emphasizes the differences in the words used by the two groups. In conclusion, MS and physicians reported similar levels of psychological symptoms. Physicians were mostly worried about themselves, they were afraid of getting infected, while MS suffered from loneliness and the missed possibilities concerning their education. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T00:23:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-65828f7745654464876b2045b7085b29 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T00:23:45Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-65828f7745654464876b2045b7085b292023-11-23T15:37:08ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2022-06-0112618910.3390/bs12060189Medical Students and Professionals Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study about Similarities and DifferencesGiacomo De Micheli0Giulia Marton1Davide Mazzoni2Laura Vergani3Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, 20122 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, 20122 Milan, ItalyDepartment of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, University of Milan, 20122 Milan, ItalyThis study aimed at exploring the emotional reaction that medical students (MS) and professionals have faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and investigating the differences between the two groups. A total of 362 MS and 330 professionals filled in an online survey during the second outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. The outcome measures were psychological distress with the General Health Questionnaire, stress, fear for themselves, fear for family members and cohabitants, perceived control, anger, loneliness, and feeling abandoned by institutions with Visual Analog Scales (VAS) and two open-ended questions about their perceived difficulties and the perceived consequences of the pandemic. The results showed that the level of distress among the two groups was above the threshold (MS mean: 21.85; professionals mean: 21.25). The means of the VAS of MS and professionals showed different results for the two groups, and we analyzed them with independent samples <i>t</i>-tests and linear regressions. MS reported higher levels of perceived loneliness (<i>t</i>(673.177) = −1.970, <i>p</i> < 0.05), while physicians reported more fear for themselves (<i>t</i>(655.183) = 4.799, <i>p</i> < 0.001), anger (<i>t</i>(690) = 2.096, <i>p</i> < 0.05), and feeling abandoned by the institutions (<i>t</i>(690) = 7.296, <i>p</i> < 0.001). The open questions were analyzed considering the most frequent words used to describe their perceived difficulties and consequences; the specificity analysis emphasizes the differences in the words used by the two groups. In conclusion, MS and physicians reported similar levels of psychological symptoms. Physicians were mostly worried about themselves, they were afraid of getting infected, while MS suffered from loneliness and the missed possibilities concerning their education.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/12/6/189physiciansmedical studentswell-beingCOVID-19 |
| spellingShingle | Giacomo De Micheli Giulia Marton Davide Mazzoni Laura Vergani Medical Students and Professionals Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study about Similarities and Differences Behavioral Sciences physicians medical students well-being COVID-19 |
| title | Medical Students and Professionals Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study about Similarities and Differences |
| title_full | Medical Students and Professionals Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study about Similarities and Differences |
| title_fullStr | Medical Students and Professionals Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study about Similarities and Differences |
| title_full_unstemmed | Medical Students and Professionals Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study about Similarities and Differences |
| title_short | Medical Students and Professionals Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study about Similarities and Differences |
| title_sort | medical students and professionals facing the covid 19 pandemic a cross sectional survey study about similarities and differences |
| topic | physicians medical students well-being COVID-19 |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/12/6/189 |
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