ICU staff suffer severe trauma and anxiety from COVID-19 – UK study

LONDON (Reuters) – Nearly half of staff working in intensive care units (ICUs) in England in the COVID-19 pandemic suffer from severe anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, with some reporting having feeling they’d better die, according to a study released Wednesday.

Many ICU nurses and physicians reach clinical threshold for PTSD, anxiety, or alcohol use problems, and the symptoms are so severe that some have reported considering harming or killing themselves.

Such extremely poor mental health among ICU staff caring for critically ill and dying COVID-19 patients is likely to impair their ability to work effectively and affect their quality of life, the researchers told the head of the study.

More than 81,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Britain, the world’s fifth-highest official death toll in the global pandemic.

More than 3 million people in Britain have tested positive for the COVID-19 disease and the government says hospitals and intensive care wards are on the verge of being overwhelmed.

Pressure on intensive care staff – who work with critically ill patients for long periods of time in areas where the risk of exposure to COVID-19 is high and where staff and equipment shortages are a problem on a daily basis – was particularly high.

“The high mortality rate among COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU, coupled with difficulties in communication and providing adequate end-of-life support to patients … are most likely very difficult stressors for all staff. working in ICUs, ”said Neil Greenberg, professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, who co-led the research.

The study, published in the journal Occupational Health, was conducted in June and July – before Britain began to experience its latest surge of infections.

It found that among more than 700 healthcare workers in nine ICUs in England, 45% met the probable clinical significance level for at least one of four serious mental health disorders: severe depression (6%), PTSD (40% ), severe anxiety (11%) or problem with alcohol consumption (7%).

More worryingly, the researchers said more than one in eight people in the study reported frequent thoughts of harming or killing themselves – such as thinking about being better off dead or injuring themselves – in the previous two weeks.

The findings ‘highlight the potential profound impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of UK frontline staff,’ said Greenberg, and show an urgent need for mental health services that are quickly accessible to all healthcare workers .