COVID-19 and mental health in primary care professionals in Cantabria

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly spread in the last years from China to Europe and worldwide, affecting millions of people both physically and mentally. This is a problem especially among healthcare workers, as they have had to fight the pandemic from the frontline and could have caused several psychological impact as a result. Our main aim is to provide evidence on the long-term psychological impact of this pandemic in healthcare staff. Methods: We applied a two-phased design, including self-reported questionnaires about their mental status and quality of life (PHQ-9, GAD-7, ISI, IES R) during and after the most difficult periods of the pandemic. This study was carried out in May-June 2020 and one year later. Results: It was clear that primary healthcare professionals presented psychological distress due to the pandemic, as well as depression and anxiety rates increased among them, and the results even increased after a year. The main factors related to this distress were being a woman and suffering COVID-19, either them or some relative, as well as being in the frontline during the pandemic. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic had a several impact on mental health of primary health workers in Cantabria, even increasing after a year, which makes it necessary programmes of prevention and preparation for this kind of occurrences.