Nursing home workers' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in France

Objectives: the present study sought to examine mental health problems among nursing home workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, to investigate COVID-19-related fears, and to identify prepandemic factors associated with current mental health issues. Design: A cross-sectional, online survey...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Husky, Mathilde M., Villeneuve, Roxane, Tabue Teguo, Maturin, Alonso Caballero, Jordi, Bruffaerts, Ronny, Swendsen, Joel, Amieva, Hélène
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repositorio:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/54959
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/54959
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2022.04.001
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:COVID-19
Nursing homes
SARS-CoV-2
Health care worker
Mental health
Pandemic
Descripción
Sumario:Objectives: the present study sought to examine mental health problems among nursing home workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, to investigate COVID-19-related fears, and to identify prepandemic factors associated with current mental health issues. Design: A cross-sectional, online survey was used. Setting and participants: all employees among 6 nursing homes in southwestern France (N = 455) were solicited between November, 2020 and June, 2021. Methods: the survey instrument was developed within the World Mental Health consortium to screen for COVID-related fears, probable generalized anxiety, panic attacks, depression, posttraumatic stress and substance use disorders in the past 30 days. Results: the survey was completed by 127 workers (89.0% female, mean age = 43.42 years, SD = 11.29), yielding a 28.5% response rate. Overall, 48.03% reported experiencing fear of infecting others at least most of the time. One in 8 (14.96%) indicated that close others feared being infected by them. One-third of the sample (34.65%) met criteria for at least 1 probable current mental disorder. Panic attacks (22.05%) were the most frequently reported mental health problem, followed by depression (16.54%). In multivariate analyses, the only factor associated with having a current probable mental disorder was the presence of any prepandemic mental health problem (adjusted odds ratio 4.76, 95% CI 2.08-10.89). Type of employment contract, full-time status, and medical vs nonmedical staff status were not significantly associated with mental health status. Conclusions and implications: the study reveals that one-third of nursing home workers in the sample report current probable mental disorders, and these were largely associated with prepandemic mental health status. Screening for common mental health problems and facilitating access to appropriate care should be prioritized in nursing homes.