Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Productivity of Workers in the Health Sector between Working in a Hospital and from Home
Background: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, workplaces in the medical field experienced changes. Non-frontline workers in the health sector (WHS) were in many cases allowed to work from home (WFH). Changes in work locations have affected the perception of productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic comp...
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MDPI AG
2023-08-01
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Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/12/15/5129 |
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author | Robert M. Trojak Melanie Lenger Armin Birner Alexander Maget Nina Dalkner Jorgos N. Lang Frederike T. Fellendorf Michaela Ratzenhofer Elena M. D. Schönthaler Eva Fleischmann Susanne A. Bengesser Robert Queissner Martina Platzer Adelina Tmava-Berisha Eva Z. Reininghaus |
author_facet | Robert M. Trojak Melanie Lenger Armin Birner Alexander Maget Nina Dalkner Jorgos N. Lang Frederike T. Fellendorf Michaela Ratzenhofer Elena M. D. Schönthaler Eva Fleischmann Susanne A. Bengesser Robert Queissner Martina Platzer Adelina Tmava-Berisha Eva Z. Reininghaus |
author_sort | Robert M. Trojak |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Background: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, workplaces in the medical field experienced changes. Non-frontline workers in the health sector (WHS) were in many cases allowed to work from home (WFH). Changes in work locations have affected the perception of productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic perception. Studies regarding this research field are rare for WHS. The aim of the present study was to investigate the perception of productivity and its impact on symptoms of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second objective was to assess the implications for post-pandemic work settings such as WFH or work scenarios in hospitals during pandemics. Methods: At three points in time during the COVID-19 pandemic (t1; <i>n</i> = 161: April 2020, t2; <i>n</i> = 1598 winter 2020/2021, t3; <i>n</i> = 1879 winter 2021/2022), an online survey of WHS (e.g., medical doctors, nurses, scientific staff) in Austria concerning their productivity in their current workplace (pre- and post-pandemic) was conducted. The online survey included questions about the perceptions of productivity changes (i.e., perceptions of lower, equal, and higher productivity, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic) in different work settings (e.g., working in a hospital or working from home), as well as standardized questionnaires like the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), assessing symptoms of depression in WHS. Results: χ<sup>2</sup> tests showed that WHS working in hospitals experienced significantly fewer fluctuations in their perceptions of productivity than WHS working from home. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that WHS with a lower perception of productivity tended to have higher self-assessed depressive symptoms. Conclusion: The possibility of remaining working in the hospital in stressful scenarios like the COVID-19 pandemic might stabilize the feeling of productivity. Moreover, productivity is associated with self-assessed depressive symptoms. Hence, looking into the reasons behind this discrepancy between WHS in hospitals and those working from home might help to improve the home office modality and to create better structures, which are related to symptoms of depression. |
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language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:23:32Z |
publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
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series | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
spelling | doaj.art-7def9a8778c5427f827bba313345423e2023-11-18T23:09:45ZengMDPI AGJournal of Clinical Medicine2077-03832023-08-011215512910.3390/jcm12155129Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Productivity of Workers in the Health Sector between Working in a Hospital and from HomeRobert M. Trojak0Melanie Lenger1Armin Birner2Alexander Maget3Nina Dalkner4Jorgos N. Lang5Frederike T. Fellendorf6Michaela Ratzenhofer7Elena M. D. Schönthaler8Eva Fleischmann9Susanne A. Bengesser10Robert Queissner11Martina Platzer12Adelina Tmava-Berisha13Eva Z. Reininghaus14Clinical Division of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, 8036 Graz, AustriaClinical Division of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, 8036 Graz, AustriaClinical Division of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, 8036 Graz, AustriaClinical Division of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, 8036 Graz, AustriaClinical Division of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, 8036 Graz, AustriaClinical Division of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, 8036 Graz, AustriaClinical Division of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, 8036 Graz, AustriaClinical Division of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, 8036 Graz, AustriaClinical Division of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, 8036 Graz, AustriaClinical Division of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, 8036 Graz, AustriaClinical Division of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, 8036 Graz, AustriaClinical Division of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, 8036 Graz, AustriaClinical Division of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, 8036 Graz, AustriaClinical Division of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, 8036 Graz, AustriaClinical Division of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University Graz, 8036 Graz, AustriaBackground: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, workplaces in the medical field experienced changes. Non-frontline workers in the health sector (WHS) were in many cases allowed to work from home (WFH). Changes in work locations have affected the perception of productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic perception. Studies regarding this research field are rare for WHS. The aim of the present study was to investigate the perception of productivity and its impact on symptoms of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second objective was to assess the implications for post-pandemic work settings such as WFH or work scenarios in hospitals during pandemics. Methods: At three points in time during the COVID-19 pandemic (t1; <i>n</i> = 161: April 2020, t2; <i>n</i> = 1598 winter 2020/2021, t3; <i>n</i> = 1879 winter 2021/2022), an online survey of WHS (e.g., medical doctors, nurses, scientific staff) in Austria concerning their productivity in their current workplace (pre- and post-pandemic) was conducted. The online survey included questions about the perceptions of productivity changes (i.e., perceptions of lower, equal, and higher productivity, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic) in different work settings (e.g., working in a hospital or working from home), as well as standardized questionnaires like the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), assessing symptoms of depression in WHS. Results: χ<sup>2</sup> tests showed that WHS working in hospitals experienced significantly fewer fluctuations in their perceptions of productivity than WHS working from home. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that WHS with a lower perception of productivity tended to have higher self-assessed depressive symptoms. Conclusion: The possibility of remaining working in the hospital in stressful scenarios like the COVID-19 pandemic might stabilize the feeling of productivity. Moreover, productivity is associated with self-assessed depressive symptoms. Hence, looking into the reasons behind this discrepancy between WHS in hospitals and those working from home might help to improve the home office modality and to create better structures, which are related to symptoms of depression.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/12/15/5129COVID-19 pandemichealthcare workerproductivitymental healthworking from homefrontline worker in the health sector |
spellingShingle | Robert M. Trojak Melanie Lenger Armin Birner Alexander Maget Nina Dalkner Jorgos N. Lang Frederike T. Fellendorf Michaela Ratzenhofer Elena M. D. Schönthaler Eva Fleischmann Susanne A. Bengesser Robert Queissner Martina Platzer Adelina Tmava-Berisha Eva Z. Reininghaus Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Productivity of Workers in the Health Sector between Working in a Hospital and from Home Journal of Clinical Medicine COVID-19 pandemic healthcare worker productivity mental health working from home frontline worker in the health sector |
title | Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Productivity of Workers in the Health Sector between Working in a Hospital and from Home |
title_full | Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Productivity of Workers in the Health Sector between Working in a Hospital and from Home |
title_fullStr | Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Productivity of Workers in the Health Sector between Working in a Hospital and from Home |
title_full_unstemmed | Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Productivity of Workers in the Health Sector between Working in a Hospital and from Home |
title_short | Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Productivity of Workers in the Health Sector between Working in a Hospital and from Home |
title_sort | impact of the covid 19 pandemic on productivity of workers in the health sector between working in a hospital and from home |
topic | COVID-19 pandemic healthcare worker productivity mental health working from home frontline worker in the health sector |
url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/12/15/5129 |
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