Mental health of Brazilian physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i10.8758

Keywords:

Mental health; Physicians; COVID-19; Mental suffering.

Abstract

Aim: To identify the profile of Brazilian doctors and the prevalence of mental suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, exploratory quantitative study, performed between April and May 2020, using a sociodemographic questionnaire and a specific tool for tracking non-psychotic mental disorders: the Self Report Questionnaire. Results: Participant profile: women (68.1%), between 31 and 40 years old (39.9%), married or with partners (59.9%), without children (53.3%), with up to five years of graduation (30.9%), and working in public service (40.7%). The doctors (49.79%) show strong signs of mental suffering, with impaired sleep, headache, and psychotropic drug use. Many of them feel easily tired and have difficulty in satisfactorily carrying out daily activities. Many are tense, nervous or worried (77.4%); feel sad and are crying more than usual. Among them, 34.8% are losing interest in things, 14.6% feel they are useless, and 4.3% have suicidal thoughts. Conclusions: Almost half of the Brazilian doctors (49.79%) show strong signs of mental suffering, with a level of tension, nervousness and worry that affects more than half of the professionals. Ongoing programs for the prevention of mental disorders and suicide during and after the COVID-19 pandemic are required.

References

Bastos, L. F. C. S. (2020). Folha informativa – COVID-19 (doença causada pelo novo coronavirus). Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization. Retrieved from https://www.paho.org/bra/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6 101:covid19&Itemid=875

Brooks, S. K., Webster, R. K., Smith, L. E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., & Rubin, G. J. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8

Chen, K. Y., Yang, C. M., Lien, C. H., Chiou, H. Y., Lin, M. R., Chang, H. R., & Chiu, W. T. (2013). Burnout, job satisfaction, and medical malpractice among physicians. International Journal of Medical Sciences, 10(11). https://doi.org/10.7150/ijms.6743

Cohen, I. G., Crespo, A. M., & White, D. B. (2020). Potential Legal Liability for Withdrawing or Withholding Ventilators During COVID-19. JAMA, 323(19), 1901. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.5442

De Jesus Mari, J., & Williams, P. (1986). A validity study of a psychiatric screening questionnaire (SRQ-20) in primary care in the city of Sao Paulo. British Journal of Psychiatry, 148(JAN.). https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.148.1.23

Fernandes, S. R. P., & Almeida Filho, N. de. (1997). Validaçäo do SRQ-20 em amostra de trabalhadores de informática. Rev. Bras. Saúde Ocup, 105–112.

Harding, T. W., Climent, C. E., De Arango, M. V., Baltazar, J., Ibrahim, H. H. A., Ladrido-Ignacio, L., … Wig, N. N. (1980). Mental disorders in primary health care: A study of their frequency and diagnosis in four developing countries. Psychological Medicine, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291700043993

Kang, L., Li, Y., Hu, S., Chen, M., Yang, C., Yang, B. X., … Liu, Z. (2020). The mental health of medical workers in Wuhan, China dealing with the 2019 novel coronavirus. The Lancet Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30047-X

Kang, L., Ma, S., Chen, M., Yang, J., Wang, Y., Li, R., … Liu, Z. (2020). Impact on mental health and perceptions of psychological care among medical and nursing staff in Wuhan during the 2019 novel coronavirus disease outbreak: A cross-sectional study. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.03.028

Klomek, A. B. (2020). Suicide prevention during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Lancet Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30142-5

Lai, J., Ma, S., Wang, Y., Cai, Z., Hu, J., Wei, N., … Hu, S. (2020). Factors Associated With Mental Health Outcomes Among Health Care Workers Exposed to Coronavirus Disease 2019. JAMA Network Open, 3(3), e203976. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.3976

Lee, S. M., Kang, W. S., Cho, A.-R., Kim, T., & Park, J. K. (2018). Psychological impact of the 2015 MERS outbreak on hospital workers and quarantined hemodialysis patients. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 87, 123–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2018.10.003

Lima, D. L. F., Dias, A. A., Rabelo, R. S., Cruz, I. D. da, Costa, S. C., Nigri, F. M. N., & Neri, J. R. (2020). COVID-19 no estado do Ceará, Brasil: comportamentos e crenças na chegada da pandemia. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 25(5). https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-81232020255.07192020

Miot, H. A. (2011). Tamanho da amostra em estudos clínicos e experimentais. Jornal Vascular Brasileiro. https://doi.org/10.1590/s1677-54492011000400001

Moraes, R. S. M. de, Silva, D. A. S., Oliveira, W. F. de, & Peres, M. A. (2017). Social inequalities in the prevalence of common mental disorders in adults: a population-based study in Southern Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Epidemiologia, 20, 43–56.

Mowbray, H. (2020). In Beijing, coronavirus 2019-nCoV has created a siege mentality. The BMJ. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m516

Ornell, F., Schuch, J. B., Sordi, A. O., & Kessler, F. H. P. (2020). “Pandemic fear” and COVID-19: mental health burden and strategies. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria (Sao Paulo, Brazil : 1999). https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-4446-2020-0008

Palácios, M., Jardim, S., Ramos, A., & Silva Filho, J. (1998). Validação do Self-Report Questionnaire-20 (SRQ-20) numa população de trabalhadores de um banco estatal no Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. In A danação do trabalho: organização do trabalho e sofrimento psíquico, Silva Filho JF, Jardim S, organizadores. (pp. 225–241). Te Corá Editora.

Paraventi, F., Cogo-Moreira, H., Paula, C. S., & de Jesus Mari, J. (2015). Psychometric properties of the self-reporting questionnaire (SRQ-20): measurement invariance across women from Brazilian community settings. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 58, 213–220.

Santos, K. O. B., Carvalho, F. M., & Araújo, T. M. de. (2016). Consistência interna do self-reporting questionnaire-20 em grupos ocupacionais. Revista de Saúde Pública, 50, 6.

Santos, K. O. B., De Araújo, T. M., & De Oliveira, N. F. (2009). Estrutura fatorial e consistência interna do Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) em população urbana. Cadernos de Saude Publica, 25(1). https://doi.org/10.1590/s0102-311x2009000100023

Saúde, M. da. (2020). Painel de casos de doença pelo coronavírus 2019 (Covid-19) no Brasil pelo Ministério da Saúde. Retrieved June 23, 2020, from https://covid.saude.gov.br/

Sher, L. (2019). Resilience as a focus of suicide research and prevention. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 140(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.13059

Sher, Leo. (2020). Are COVID-19 survivors at increased risk for suicide? Acta Neuropsychiatrica. https://doi.org/10.1017/neu.2020.21

Shigemura, J., Ursano, R. J., Morganstein, J. C., Kurosawa, M., & Benedek, D. M. (2020). Public responses to the novel 2019 coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Japan: Mental health consequences and target populations. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. https://doi.org/10.1111/pcn.12988

Stanley, B., & Brown, G. K. (2012). Safety Planning Intervention: A Brief Intervention to Mitigate Suicide Risk. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 19(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2011.01.001

Tan, B. Y. Q., Chew, N. W. S., Lee, G. K. H., Jing, M., Goh, Y., Yeo, L. L. L., … Sharma, V. K. (2020). Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Health Care Workers in Singapore. Annals of Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.7326/m20-1083

Torales, J., O’Higgins, M., Castaldelli-Maia, J. M., & Ventriglio, A. (2020). The outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus and its impact on global mental health. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764020915212

World Health Organization. (2020a). Mental Health and Psychosocial Considerations During COVID-19 Outbreak. World Health Organization, (January). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/docs/ default-source/coronaviruse/mental-healthconsiderations.pdf

World Health Organization. (2020b). Suicide prevention. Retrieved May 25, 2020, from https://www.who.int/health-topics/suicide#tab=tab_1

Xiang, Y. T., Yang, Y., Li, W., Zhang, L., Zhang, Q., Cheung, T., & Ng, C. H. (2020). Timely mental health care for the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak is urgently needed. The Lancet Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30046-8

Xiao, C. (2020). A novel approach of consultation on 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19)-related psychological and mental problems: Structured letter therapy. Psychiatry Investigation. https://doi.org/10.30773/pi.2020.0047

Zhang, W. R., Wang, K., Yin, L., Zhao, W. F., Xue, Q., Peng, M., Wang, H. X. (2020). Mental Health and Psychosocial Problems of Medical Health Workers during the COVID-19 Epidemic in China. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. https://doi.org/10.1159/000507639

Zheng, W. (2020). Mental health and a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in China. Journal of Affective Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.03.041

Downloads

Published

06/10/2020

How to Cite

PIMENTEL, D.; FIGUEIREDO , D. L. .; MATTOS, R. M. P. R. de .; BARRETO, I. D. de C. . Mental health of Brazilian physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research, Society and Development, [S. l.], v. 9, n. 10, p. e5129108758, 2020. DOI: 10.33448/rsd-v9i10.8758. Disponível em: https://rsdjournal.org/index.php/rsd/article/view/8758. Acesso em: 5 nov. 2024.

Issue

Section

Health Sciences