Dataset Information

A Review of Psychological Issues among Patients and Healthcare Staff during Two Major Coronavirus Disease Outbreaks in China: Contributory Factors and Management Strategies.

ABSTRACT: Outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have affected populations worldwide. Our literature review summarises the studies reporting psychological issues among healthcare staff and infected patients in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan during these two outbreaks and the potential strategies for addressing these issues. Our review shows that patients and healthcare staff presented similar psychological symptoms, including anxiety, fear, distress, and depression, which may lead to stress-related complications such as insomnia. In patients, these psychological impairments can be contributed to by being quarantined, perceptions of threats to life, and uncertainty about health status. Quarantine is also a factor for distress among healthcare staff, together with their heavy workload, the fear that they and their families would become infected, witnessing their patients' poor and deteriorating conditions, and the requirement to wear protective gear. Strategies that are needed to address these factors include providing counselling services, implementing mindfulness-based therapies and optimism interventions, and providing telecommunication facilities for patients to communicate with their families. Healthcare staff should also be provided with these services, together with appropriate and flexible work shift arrangements and morale boosting. These strategies would improve not only the mental well-being of patients and healthcare staff, but also the self-efficacy and competence of the staff to provide quality healthcare services.

SUBMITTER: Chow KM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7557771 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

A Review of Psychological Issues among Patients and Healthcare Staff during Two Major Coronavirus Disease Outbreaks in China: Contributory Factors and Management Strategies.

Chow Ka Ming KM Law Bernard M H BMH Ng Marques S N MSN Chan Dorothy N S DNS So Winnie K W WKW Wong Cho Lee CL Chan Carmen W H CWH

International journal of environmental research and public health 20200914 18

Outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have affected populations worldwide. Our literature review summarises the studies reporting psychological issues among healthcare staff and infected patients in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan during these two outbreaks and the potential strategies for addressing these issues. Our review shows that patients and healthcare staff presented similar psychological symptoms, including anxiety, fear, dis ...[more]

PMID: 32937749

Similar Datasets

Project description:ObjectiveTo examine the psychological effects on clinicians of working to manage novel viral outbreaks, and successful measures to manage stress and psychological distress.DesignRapid review and meta-analysis.Data sourcesCochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed/Medline, PsycInfo, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and Google Scholar, searched up to late March 2020.Eligibility criteria for study selectionAny study that described the psychological reactions of healthcare staff working with patients in an outbreak of any emerging virus in any clinical setting, irrespective of any comparison with other clinicians or the general population.Results59 papers met the inclusion criteria: 37 were of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), eight of coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19), seven of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), three each of Ebola virus disease and influenza A virus subtype H1N1, and one of influenza A virus subtype H7N9. Of the 38 studies that compared psychological outcomes of healthcare workers in direct contact with affected patients, 25 contained data that could be combined in a pairwise meta-analysis comparing healthcare workers at high and low risk of exposure. Compared with lower risk controls, staff in contact with affected patients had greater levels of both acute or post-traumatic stress (odds ratio 1.71, 95% confidence interval 1.28 to 2.29) and psychological distress (1.74, 1.50 to 2.03), with similar results for continuous outcomes. These findings were the same as in the other studies not included in the meta-analysis. Risk factors for psychological distress included being younger, being more junior, being the parents of dependent children, or having an infected family member. Longer quarantine, lack of practical support, and stigma also contributed. Clear communication, access to adequate personal protection, adequate rest, and both practical and psychological support were associated with reduced morbidity.ConclusionsEffective interventions are available to help mitigate the psychological distress experienced by staff caring for patients in an emerging disease outbreak. These interventions were similar despite the wide range of settings and types of outbreaks covered in this review, and thus could be applicable to the current covid-19 outbreak.

Dataset Information

A Review of Psychological Issues among Patients and Healthcare Staff during Two Major Coronavirus Disease Outbreaks in China: Contributory Factors and Management Strategies.

Publications

A Review of Psychological Issues among Patients and Healthcare Staff during Two Major Coronavirus Disease Outbreaks in China: Contributory Factors and Management Strategies.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets