IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i5p2390-d508371.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From Recession to Depression? Prevalence and Correlates of Depression, Anxiety, Traumatic Stress and Burnout in Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Greece: A Multi-Center, Cross-Sectional Study

Author

Listed:
  • Sofia Pappa

    (Department of Psychiatry, Imperial College London, London W12 0NN, UK
    Department of Respiratory Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 157 72 Athens, Greece)

  • Nikolaos Athanasiou

    (Department of Respiratory Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 157 72 Athens, Greece)

  • Nikolaos Sakkas

    (Department of Respiratory Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 157 72 Athens, Greece)

  • Stavros Patrinos

    (Department of Respiratory Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 157 72 Athens, Greece)

  • Elpitha Sakka

    (Department of Respiratory Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 157 72 Athens, Greece
    School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Science, University of Brighton, Brighton BN2 4AT, UK)

  • Zafeiria Barmparessou

    (Department of Respiratory Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 157 72 Athens, Greece)

  • Stamatoula Tsikrika

    (Respiratory Failure Clinic, Sotiria Hospital, 115 27 Athens, Greece)

  • Andreas Adraktas

    (Pammakaristos Hospital, 111 44 Athens, Greece)

  • Athanasia Pataka

    (Respiratory Failure Unit, Papanikolaou Hospital Thessaloniki, 570 10 Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • Ilias Migdalis

    (417 Army Equity Fund Hospital (NIMTS), 115 21 Athens, Greece)

  • Sofia Gida

    (Trikala Hospital, 421 00 Trikala, Greece)

  • Paraskevi Katsaounou

    (Department of Respiratory Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 157 72 Athens, Greece
    Pulmonary and Respiratory Failure Department, First ICU, Evaggelismos Hospital, 106 76 Athens, Greece)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to adversely affect the mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs). The public healthcare system in Greece was already facing serious challenges at the outset of the outbreak following years of austerity and an escalating refugee crisis. This multi-center, cross-sectional study aims to assess the levels and associated risk factors of anxiety, depression, traumatic stress and burnout of frontline staff in Greece. A total of 464 self-selected HCWs in six reference hospitals completed a questionnaire comprising sociodemographic and work-related information and validated psychometric scales. The proportion of HCWs with symptoms of moderate/severe depression, anxiety and traumatic stress were 30%, 25% and 33%, respectively. Burnout levels were particularly high with 65% of respondents scoring moderate/severe in emotional exhaustion, 92% severe in depersonalization and 51% low/moderate in personal accomplishment. Predictive factors of adverse psychological outcomes included fear, perceived stress, risk of infection, lack of protective equipment and low social support. The psychological burden associated with COVID-19 in healthcare professionals in Greece is considerable, with more than half experiencing at least mild mental health difficulties. Findings signal the need for immediate organizational and individually tailored interventions to enhance resilience and support wellbeing under pandemic conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Sofia Pappa & Nikolaos Athanasiou & Nikolaos Sakkas & Stavros Patrinos & Elpitha Sakka & Zafeiria Barmparessou & Stamatoula Tsikrika & Andreas Adraktas & Athanasia Pataka & Ilias Migdalis & Sofia Gida, 2021. "From Recession to Depression? Prevalence and Correlates of Depression, Anxiety, Traumatic Stress and Burnout in Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Greece: A Multi-Center, Cross-Section," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-16, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:5:p:2390-:d:508371
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2390/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2390/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giuseppe Forte & Francesca Favieri & Renata Tambelli & Maria Casagrande, 2020. "COVID-19 Pandemic in the Italian Population: Validation of a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Questionnaire and Prevalence of PTSD Symptomatology," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-14, June.
    2. Selçuk Özdin & Şükriye Bayrak Özdin, 2020. "Levels and predictors of anxiety, depression and health anxiety during COVID-19 pandemic in Turkish society: The importance of gender," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 66(5), pages 504-511, August.
    3. Rodolfo Buselli & Martina Corsi & Sigrid Baldanzi & Martina Chiumiento & Elena Del Lupo & Valerio Dell'Oste & Carlo Antonio Bertelloni & Gabriele Massimetti & Liliana Dell’Osso & Alfonso Cristaudo & C, 2020. "Professional Quality of Life and Mental Health Outcomes among Health Care Workers Exposed to Sars-Cov-2 (Covid-19)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-12, August.
    4. Luca A Morgantini & Ushasi Naha & Heng Wang & Simone Francavilla & Ömer Acar & Jose M Flores & Simone Crivellaro & Daniel Moreira & Michael Abern & Martin Eklund & Hari T Vigneswaran & Stevan M Weine, 2020. "Factors contributing to healthcare professional burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: A rapid turnaround global survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(9), pages 1-11, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sofia Pappa & Joshua Barnett & Ines Berges & Nikolaos Sakkas, 2021. "Tired, Worried and Burned Out, but Still Resilient: A Cross-Sectional Study of Mental Health Workers in the UK during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-14, April.
    2. Yu-Tung Chang & Yih-Jin Hu, 2022. "Burnout and Health Issues among Prehospital Personnel in Taiwan Fire Departments during a Sudden Spike in Community COVID-19 Cases: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-11, February.
    3. Jennifer E. Moreno-Jiménez & Luis Manuel Blanco-Donoso & Evangelia Demerouti & Sylvia Belda Hofheinz & Mario Chico-Fernández & Bernardo Moreno-Jiménez & Eva Garrosa, 2021. "The Role of Healthcare Professionals’ Passion in Predicting Secondary Traumatic Stress and Posttraumatic Growth in the Face of COVID-19: A Longitudinal Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-16, April.
    4. Bram P. I. Fleuren & Lieze T. Poesen & Rachel E. Gifford & Fred R. H. Zijlstra & Dirk Ruwaard & Frank C. van de Baan & Daan D. Westra, 2021. "We’re Not Gonna Fall: Depressive Complaints, Personal Resilience, Team Social Climate, and Worries about Infections among Hospital Workers during a Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-14, April.
    5. Rui She & Lijuan Li & Qian Yang & Jianyan Lin & Xiaoli Ye & Suliu Wu & Zhenggui Yang & Suzhen Guan & Jianxin Zhang & Rachel Hau Yin Ling & Joseph Tak Fai Lau, 2022. "Associations between COVID-19 Work-Related Stressors and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms among Chinese Doctors and Nurses: Application of Stress-Coping Theory," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-15, May.
    6. Katarzyna Gustavsson & Zuzanna Goetz-Kundera & Magdalena Flaga-Łuczkiewicz & Adam Wichniak, 2023. "Which Aspects of Work Safety Satisfaction Are Important to Mental Health of Healthcare Workers during COVID-19 Pandemic in Poland?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-9, February.
    7. M. Lelinneth B. Novilla & Victor B. A. Moxley & Carl L. Hanson & Alisha H. Redelfs & Jeffrey Glenn & Paola G. Donoso Naranjo & Jenna M. S. Smith & Lynneth Kirsten B. Novilla & Sarah Stone & Rachel Laf, 2023. "COVID-19 and Psychosocial Well-Being: Did COVID-19 Worsen U.S. Frontline Healthcare Workers’ Burnout, Anxiety, and Depression?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-20, March.
    8. Ilana Dubovi & Angela Ruban & Anat Amit Aharon, 2022. "The Role of Science-Based Knowledge on the SARS-CoV-2 Virus in Reducing COVID-19-Induced Anxiety among Nurses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-10, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anna Nyberg & Kristiina Rajaleid & Ingrid Demmelmaier, 2022. "The Work Environment during Coronavirus Epidemics and Pandemics: A Systematic Review of Studies Using Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed-Methods Designs," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-48, June.
    2. Xiuyu Chen & Longjun Jing & Huilin Wang & Jingyu Yang, 2022. "How Medical Staff Alleviates Job Burnout through Sports Involvement: The Mediating Roles of Health Anxiety and Self-Efficacy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-12, September.
    3. José Luis Carballo & Ainhoa Coloma-Carmona & Sara Arteseros-Bañón & Virtudes Pérez-Jover, 2021. "The Moderating Role of Caregiving on Fear of COVID-19 and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-11, June.
    4. Ilenia Rosa & Chiara Conti & Luigia Zito & Konstantinos Efthymakis & Matteo Neri & Piero Porcelli, 2023. "Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Worsened Health-Related Quality of Life of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease? A Longitudinal Disease Activity-Controlled Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-13, January.
    5. Filippo Rapisarda & Martine Vallarino & Elena Cavallini & Angelo Barbato & Camille Brousseau-Paradis & Luigi De Benedictis & Alain Lesage, 2020. "The Early Impact of the Covid-19 Emergency on Mental Health Workers: A Survey in Lombardy, Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-12, November.
    6. Jo Daniels & Jenny Ingram & Anna Pease & Elaine Wainwright & Kate Beckett & Lalitha Iyadurai & Sophie Harris & Olivia Donnelly & Tom Roberts & Edward Carlton, 2021. "The COVID-19 Clinician Cohort (CoCCo) Study: Empirically Grounded Recommendations for Forward-Facing Psychological Care of Frontline Doctors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-18, September.
    7. Nashit Chowdhury & Ankit Kainth & Atobrhan Godlu & Honey Abigail Farinas & Saif Sikdar & Tanvir C. Turin, 2022. "Mental Health and Well-Being Needs among Non-Health Essential Workers during Recent Epidemics and Pandemics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-30, May.
    8. Artem Kashtanov & Ekaterina Molotok & Andrey Yavorovskiy & Alexander Boyarkov & Yuriy Vasil’ev & Ali Alsaegh & Sergey Dydykin & Olesya Kytko & Renata Meylanova & Yulianna Enina & Vasiliy Troitskiy & M, 2022. "A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study Assessing the Psycho-Emotional State of Intensive Care Units’ Physicians and Nurses of COVID-19 Hospitals of a Russian Metropolis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-22, February.
    9. Yi Ding & Jie Yang & Tingting Ji & Yongyu Guo, 2021. "Women Suffered More Emotional and Life Distress than Men during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Pathogen Disgust Sensitivity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-9, August.
    10. Ewa Małgorzata Szepietowska & Ewa Zawadzka & Sara Filipiak, 2022. "Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Sense of Gains and Losses during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An International Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-19, March.
    11. Shuangshuang Xin & Xiujie Ma, 2023. "Mechanisms of Physical Exercise Effects on Anxiety in Older Adults during the COVID-19 Lockdown: An Analysis of the Mediating Role of Psychological Resilience and the Moderating Role of Media Exposure," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-15, February.
    12. Zhou, Min & Guo, Wei, 2021. "Social factors and worry associated with COVID-19: Evidence from a large survey in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    13. Diego De Leo & Maria Maddalena Martucci & Antonello Grossi & Francesca Siviero & Silvia Vicentini & Carolina Romascu & Arianna Mercurio & Martina Battaglia & Noemi Tribbia, 2021. "Caring for Caregivers: Italian Health Care Workers’ Needs during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-13, October.
    14. Bentham Liang Sen Teh & Jin Kiat Ang & Eugene Boon Yau Koh & Nicholas Tze Ping Pang, 2023. "Psychological Resilience and Coping Strategies with Anxiety among Malaysian Medical Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-16, January.
    15. Natalie L. Edelman & T. Charles Witzel & Phil Samba & Will Nutland & Tom Nadarzynski, 2022. "Mental Well-Being and Sexual Intimacy among Men and Gender Diverse People Who Have Sex with Men during the First UK COVID-19 Lockdown: A Mixed-Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-13, June.
    16. Stefania Scuri & Marina Tesauro & Fabio Petrelli & Ninfa Argento & Genny Damasco & Giovanni Cangelosi & Cuc Thi Thu Nguyen & Demetris Savva & Iolanda Grappasonni, 2022. "Use of an Online Platform to Evaluate the Impact of Social Distancing Measures on Psycho-Physical Well-Being in the COVID-19 Era," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-10, June.
    17. Emilijus Žilinskas & Giedrė Žulpaitė & Kristijonas Puteikis & Rima Viliūnienė, 2021. "Mental Health among Higher Education Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey from Lithuania," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-14, December.
    18. Melissa McDiarmid & Marian Condon & Joanna Gaitens, 2021. "The Healthcare Sector Employer’s Duty of Care: Implications for Worker Well-Being," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-12, June.
    19. Agnieszka Lasota, 2023. "Crisis Experience and Purpose in Life in Men and Women: The Mediating Effect of Gratitude and Fear of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(15), pages 1-14, August.
    20. Mario J. Valladares-Garrido & Luis Eduardo Zapata-Castro & Cinthia Karina Picón-Reategui & Ana Paula Mesta-Pintado & Ronald Alberto Picón-Reategui & Mariana Huaman-Garcia & César Johan Pereira-Victori, 2022. "Association between Working Time and Burnout Syndrome in Peruvian Military during the Second Epidemic Wave of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-14, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:5:p:2390-:d:508371. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.