Hall, C;
Milward, J;
Spoiala, C;
Bhogal, JK;
Weston, D;
Potts, Henry;
Caulfield, T;
... Greenberg, N; + view all
(2022)
The mental health of staff working on Intensive Care Units over the COVID-19 winter surge of 2020 in England: A cross sectional survey.
British Journal of Anaesthesia
, 128
(6)
pp. 971-979.
10.1016/j.bja.2022.03.016.
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Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic generated a surge of critically ill patients greater than the capacity of the UK National Health Service (NHS). There have been multiple well-documented impacts associated with the national COVID-19 pandemic surge on ICU staff, including an increased prevalence of mental health disorders on a scale potentially sufficient to impair high-quality care delivery. We investigated the prevalence of five mental health outcomes; explored demographic and professional predictors of poor mental health outcomes; and describe the prevalence of functional impairment; and explore demographic and professional predictors of functional impairment in ICU staff over the 2020/2021 winter COVID-19 surge in England. Methods: English ICU staff were surveyed before, during, and after the winter 2020/2021 surge using a survey which comprised validated measures of mental health. Results: A total of 6080 surveys were completed, by ICU nurses (57.5%), doctors (27.9%), and other healthcare staff (14.5%). Reporting probable mental health disorders increased from 51% (before) to 64% (during), and then decreased to 46% (after). Younger, less experienced nursing staff were most likely to report probable mental health disorders. During and after the winter, >50% of participants met threshold criteria for functional impairment. Staff who reported probable post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, or depression were more likely to meet threshold criteria for functional impairment. Conclusions: The winter of 2020/2021 was associated with an increase in poor mental health outcomes and functional impairment amongst ICU staff during a period of peak caseload. These effects are likely to impact on patient care outcomes and the longer-term resilience of the healthcare workforce.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The mental health of staff working on Intensive Care Units over the COVID-19 winter surge of 2020 in England: A cross sectional survey |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.bja.2022.03.016 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bja.2022.03.016 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, functional impairment, healthcare worker, intensive care, mental health, presenteeism, PTSD |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Health Informatics > CHIME UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Health Informatics UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10144334 |
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