Differences in the presentation of COVID-19-related psychosocial stress and general psychological distress and the relation between the number of care days and these symptoms among Japanese ward staff working exclusively with COVID-19 and support staff

Tomoe Nishihara; Kazufumi Yoshihara; Ayako Ohashi; Mika Kuroiwa; Nobuyuki Sudo

doi:10.1186/s13030-023-00272-7

Differences in the presentation of COVID-19-related psychosocial stress and general psychological distress and the relation between the number of care days and these symptoms among Japanese ward staff working exclusively with COVID-19 and support staff

Biopsychosoc Med. 2023 Apr 28;17(1):17. doi: 10.1186/s13030-023-00272-7.

Authors

Tomoe Nishihara^{1

2}, Kazufumi Yoshihara^{3

4}, Ayako Ohashi^{5

6}, Mika Kuroiwa⁷, Nobuyuki Sudo²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, National Hospital Organization Fukuoka Higashi Medical Center, Fukuoka, Japan.
² Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-Ku, Fukuoka-City, 812-8582, Japan.
³ Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-Ku, Fukuoka-City, 812-8582, Japan. yoshihara.kazufumi.335@m.kyushu-u.ac.jp.
⁴ Division of Health Promotion and Development, Center for Health Sciences and Counseling, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. yoshihara.kazufumi.335@m.kyushu-u.ac.jp.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, National Hospital Organization Fukuoka Higashi Medical Center, Fukuoka, Japan.
⁶ Department of Neuropsychiatry, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
⁷ Department of Clinical Research Center, National Hospital Organization Fukuoka Higashi Medical Center, Fukuoka, Japan.

Abstract

Background: Psychological distress has been frequently observed in frontline healthcare workers under stress during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic; however, it is unclear if there are differences in the stress and symptoms experienced by staff members who work exclusively in a COVID-19 ward and support staff temporarily deployed to a COVID-19 ward. The present study investigated psychosocial stress specific to the care for patients with COVID-19 and psychological distress among ward staff working exclusively with COVID-19 and temporary support staff.

Methods: The participants were full-time nurses and doctors working in COVID-19 wards or the ICU who provided face-to-face care to patients with COVID-19 during the COVID-19 outbreak in February of 2021. The data of 67 staff members (21 exclusively working with Covid-19 patients (group A) and 46 in the temporary support group (group B)) was available for study. Psychosocial stress specific to healthcare professionals during this COVID-19 outbreak (Tokyo Metropolitan Distress Scale for Pandemic [TMDP]) and general psychological distress (K6) were assessed.

Results: The K6 score was significantly lower in group B than in group A (p = .006), but no significant difference was found in the total score of TMDP or its subscales. Positive correlations were found between TMDP and K6 for group B (p = .011), as was the number of days of care on TMDP-social (rs = .456, p = .001).

Conclusion: Even though support staff members experienced lower psychological distress than staff working exclusively with COVID-19, COVID-19-related psychosocial stress specific to HCWs was comparable. The support staff also presented psychological distress associated with psychosocial stress specific to healthcare professionals during this COVID-19 outbreak, and the COVID-19-related social stress was enhanced as the number of working days increased. Our results show that all staff, not only those working exclusively with COVID-19 patients but also other support staff should be provided with care focusing on COVID-19-related psychosocial occupational stress.

Keywords: COVID-19; General psychological distress; Health care worker; Occupational stress; Support staff.