Mental health of doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic

Johns, Gemma 2021. Mental health of doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic. ClinPsy Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Preface The mental health of doctors is an ongoing global concern. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the assessment of mental health problems in healthcare staff was outlined as a research priority. In addition, calls were made to develop research to understand the underlying mechanisms of distress, in order to inform intervention. Paper 1 is a systematic review and meta-analysis of the global prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms among doctors during the first year of the pandemic. Of the 55 studies selected through systematic review, 26 studies of depression and 30 studies of anxiety were assessed as medium or low risk of bias; these studies were included in the final meta-analyses. Findings indicate that doctors continue to be a population at high risk of depression and anxiety, though not conclusively higher than pre-pandemic levels. Differences in study design and variation in job demands and resources may account for some of the observed heterogeneity. However, findings must be interpretated with caution due to the low overall quality of the body of evidence. Implications and recommendations are discussed. Paper 2 presents the findings from a cross-sectional online study of UK doctors and final year medical students conducted during the pandemic. Prevalence rates for symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD and burnout are reported. Regression analysis was also conducted to explore how much of the variance in outcomes could be explained by psychological variables. Psychological flexibility, intolerance of uncertainty and resilience all explained significant variance, but psychological flexibility was the most consistent predictor for all outcomes. Research and clinical implications are discussed.

Item Type:	Thesis (DClinPsy)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Funders:	N/A
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	22 September 2021
Last Modified:	22 Sep 2022 01:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/144337

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