Work Related and Personal Factors Associated With Mental Well Being During the COVID 19 Response: Survey of Health Care and Other Workers
Background The response to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV 2) pandemic has created an unprecedented disruption in work conditions. This study describes the mental health and well being of workers both with and without clinical exposure to patients with coronavirus disease (COVID 19) Objective The aim of this study is to measure the prevalence of stress, anxiety, depression, work exhaustion, burnout, and decreased well being among faculty and staff at a university and academic medical center during the SARS CoV 2 pandemic and describe work related and personal factors associated with their mental health and well being. Methods All faculty, staff, and postdoctoral fellows of a university, including its medical school, were invited in April 2020 to complete an online questionnaire measuring stress, anxiety, depression, work exhaustion, burnout, and decreased well being. We examined associations between these outcomes and factors including work in high risk clinical settings and family/home stressors. Results There were 5550 respondents (overall response rate of 34.3% Overall, 34% of faculty and 14% of staff (n=915) were providing clinical care, while 61% of faculty and 77% of staff were working from home. Among all workers, anxiety (prevalence ratio 1.37, 95% CI 1.09 1.73) depression (prevalence ratio 1.28, 95% CI 1.03 1.59) and high work exhaustion (prevalence ratio 1.24, 95% CI 1.13 1.36) were independently associated with community or clinical exposure to COVID 19. Poor family supportive behaviors by supervisors were also associated with these outcomes (prevalence ratio 1.40, 95% CI 1.21 1.62; prevalence ratio 1.69, 95% CI 1.48 1.92; and prevalence ratio 1.54, 95% CI 1.44 1.64, respectively) Age <40 years and a greater number of family/home stressors were also associated with these poorer outcomes. Among the subset of clinicians, caring for patients with COVID 19 and working in high risk clinical settings were additional risk factors. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the pandemic has had negative effects on the mental health and well being of both clinical and nonclinical employees. Mitigating exposure to COVID 19 and increasing supervisor support are modifiable risk factors that may protect mental health and well being for all workers.
Journal of medical Internet research