TY - JOUR
T1 - Work-related and personal factors associated with mental well-being during the COVID-19 response
T2 - Survey of health care and other workers
AU - Evanoff, Bradley A.
AU - Strickland, Jaime R.
AU - Dale, Ann Marie
AU - Hayibor, Lisa
AU - Page, Emily
AU - Duncan, Jennifer G.
AU - Kannampallil, Thomas
AU - Gray, Diana L.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported, in part, by the Healthier Workforce Center of the Midwest grant U19OH008868 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and by the Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences grant UL1TR002345 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC, NCATS, or NIH.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Journal of Medical Internet Research. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Coronavirus
KW - Health care workers
KW - Mental health
KW - Occupational health
KW - Pandemic
KW - Remote work
KW - Worker well-being
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85090072747&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2196/21366
DO - 10.2196/21366
M3 - Article
C2 - 32763891
AN - SCOPUS:85090072747
SN - 1438-8871
VL - 22
JO - Journal of medical Internet research
JF - Journal of medical Internet research
IS - 8
M1 - 21366
ER -