Association between clinical decision for patients with COVID-19 and post-traumatic stress symptoms among healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between clinical decision for the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Japanese healthcare professionals were recruited. The survey was conducted from May 21 to June 18, 2021. PTSS was assessed by the Impact of Event Scale-Revised. Items about the experience of clinical decision for COVID-19 patients and other independent variables were originally developed from previous studies. Univariate and multiple linear regression analyses were used to examine the association of independent variables and PTSS. Results: 515 (3.9%) healthcare professionals completed all questions. Among them, 172 (33.4%) had experienced clinical decision for COVID-19 patients. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that clinical decision for COVID-19 patients (B=3.32, 95% CI 1.41–5.24; p<0.01), as well as fear of getting a COVID-19 infection (B=2.15, 95% CI 0.32–3.98; p=0.02), were significantly associated with PTSS in the adjusted model. Conclusions: The study showed that clinical decision might be a very serious factor related to PTSS among healthcare professionals during the COVID-19. Clinical decision for patients with COVID-19 has a high experience rate and was considered to be a serious experience among healthcare professionals during the pandemic. As a countermeasure for the mental health of healthcare professionals during the COVID-19, it is important for healthcare professionals to take countermeasures for clinical decision for patients with COVID-19.

Keywords

• clinical decision
• covid-19
• healthcare professional
• pandemic
• post-traumatic stress symptoms