Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Frontline Healthcare Workers
Samantha So, Brian Edward Yu, Monali S. Malvankar-MehtaContact / Kontakt / Kapcsolat & Teng Qing Wang
EJMH Vol 18 (2023) 1-22; https: //doi.org/10.5708/EJMH.18.2023.0003
Received: 9 March 2022; Accepted: 27 September 2022; Online: 28 February 2023
Section: Review Articles
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Abstract

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.

Keywords

COVID-19, healthcare workers, meta-analysis, systematic review, psychological impact

Corresponding author

Monali S. Malvankar-Mehta

Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada & Department of Ophthalmology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada & Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

Monali.Malvankar@schulich.uwo.ca

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7875-7386

Co-authors

Samantha So
Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7976-8618

Brian Edward Yu
Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8591-4762

Teng Qing Wang
Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8902-6797

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