Impact of the COVID Pandemic on Mental Health and Training Opportunities of Public Health Residents from 4 European Countries: A Cross-Sectional Study

Authors

Giovanna Failla
Marta Caminiti
José Chen-Xu
Giuseppina Lo Moro
Nausicaa Berselli
Madalena Cabral Ferreira
Filipa Malcata
David Peyre-Costa
Roberto Croci
Giorgia Soldà
Angelo Capodici
Caterina Morcavallo
Francesco Traglia
Fabrizio Cedrone
Ilaria Storti
Alfonso Alonso Jaquete
Martina Antinozzi
Anca Vasiliu

Publication Date

1-1-2023

Journal

Frontiers in Public Health

DOI

10.3389/fpubh.2023.1044171

PMID

36960373

PMCID

PMC10028077

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

3-7-2023

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Humans, Female, COVID-19, Mental Health, Pandemics, Cross-Sectional Studies, SARS-CoV-2, Public Health, Depression, : public mental health, healthcare workforce, Europe, pandemic, medical residents

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: There is little evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Public Health Residents' (PHR) mental health (MH). This study aims at assessing prevalence and risk factors for depression, anxiety and stress in European PHR during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS: Between March and April 2021, an online survey was administered to PHR from France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The survey assessed COVID-19 related changes in working conditions, training opportunities and evaluated MH outcomes using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21. Multivariable logistic regressions were applied to identify risk factors.

RESULTS: Among the 443 respondents, many showed symptoms of depression (60.5%), anxiety (43.1%) and stress (61.2%). The main outcome predictors were: female gender for depression (adjOR = 1.59, 95%CI [1.05-2.42]), anxiety (adjOR = 2.03, 95%CI [1.33-3.08]), and stress (adjOR = 2.35, 95%CI [1.53-3.61]); loss of research opportunities for anxiety (adjOR = 1.94, 95%CI [1.28-2.93]) and stress (adjOR = 1.98, 95%CI [1.26-3.11]); and COVID-19 impact on training (adjOR = 1.78, 95%CI [1.12-2.80]) for depression.

CONCLUSIONS: The pandemic had a significant impact on PHR in terms of depression, anxiety and stress, especially for women and who lost work-related opportunities. Training programs should offer PHR appropriate MH support and training opportunities.