4. DISCUSSION
The present results showed that healthcare professionals who work in COVID-19 wards reported higher levels of depressive symptoms and PTSS than those who work in other healthcare units. These findings are very understandable in view of the fact that healthcare workers involved in the frontline of COVID-19 are in a daily struggle to keep the patients alive. Furthermore, medical health workers constantly find themselves exposed to highly risky situations, which can make them feel unsafe at work. The relentless spread of the virus, the lack of sufficient rest, the permanent threat of being infected, the workload, the shortage of medical protective equipment, and frequent isolation from family are all factors that can contribute to the high risk of acute mental health conditions in healthcare workers in the long term.4-6In particular, the prolonged exposure to traumatic events, such as the death of patients and colleagues, may lead to the development of severe anxiety and depressive symptoms, as well as PTSS.2, 3
Possible predisposing factors for the mental health symptoms observed in healthcare professionals working in COVID-19 wards were found to be being female and not in a relationship for depressive symptoms and being female and older for PTSS.
With regard to gender differences, our findings are in line with previous studies2, 3 that showed a higher prevalence of PTSS in women than men, in both general population and healthcare workers. Regarding age differences, the available evidence is still controversial and, in some cases, no differences3 or opposite results have been obtained2. For instance, in contrast to our data, the study of Tang et al.2 showed that the healthcare workers aged between 20 and 30 years obtained the highest PTSS scores during a previous pandemic. Conversely, Liu et al.3 found that in the general population, the youngest reported the lowest level of PTSS, but age did not represent a predictive factor for developing PTSS during the COVID-19 epidemic. Furthermore, it is well known that women are more vulnerable to developing depressive symptoms7, 8 and that adequate social support provided by partners or spouses represents a protective factor for the psychological well-being.9, 10
Taken together, our findings suggest that healthcare professionals involved in COVID-19 management display high levels of both depressive symptoms and PTSS. Moreover, specific predisposing factors seem to characterise those healthcare worker members who are at high risk of developing depressive symptoms and PTSS when faced with COVID-19 patients.
During the extraordinary events associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential to take on healthcare workers’ needs, providing timely psychosocial and mental health support, particularly for those groups identified at risk. Indeed, healthcare professionals expect to be welcomed, listened to, supported, and protected by their organisations.1