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Latest Mental Health News<\/h3>\n
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TUESDAY, July 21, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n
The coronavirus pandemic has left many U.S. emergency doctors with high levels of anxiety<\/a> and emotional exhaustion, a new study finds.<\/p>\n The research included 426 emergency doctors (median age: 35) in seven cities in California, Louisiana and New Jersey who were surveyed during the early stages of the outbreak.<\/p>\n The doctors reported having moderate to severe anxiety<\/a> at work and at home. They expressed worry about exposing relatives and friends to the new coronavirus, and most reported changes in behavior toward family and friends — especially fewer signs of affection.<\/p>\n Overall, women doctors reported slightly higher stress<\/a> than men.<\/p>\n On scale of 1 to 7, with 7 representing extreme stress<\/a>, women doctors pegged the pandemic’s impact at a 6 both at work and at home. The median for men was 5 for both. Median means half reported more stress<\/a>, half reported less.<\/p>\n Both said levels of emotional exhaustion or burnout had increased from a median of 3 before the pandemic to a 4.<\/p>\n “Some of our findings may be intuitive, but this research provides a critical early template for the design and implementation of interventions that will address the mental health<\/a> needs of emergency physicians in the COVID-19<\/a> pandemic era,” said lead author Dr. Robert Rodriguez, a professor of emergency medicine<\/a> at the University of California, San Francisco.<\/p>\n Lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) brought the greatest concern, and doctors most often said that addressing the problem would do the most to reduce their anxiety<\/a>.<\/p>\n The doctors also expressed concerns about a shortage of rapid turnaround testing, the risk of community spread by discharged patients, and the well-being of coworkers diagnosed with COVID-19<\/a>.<\/p>\n To reduce anxiety<\/a>, they called for improved access to PPE; increased availability of quick turnaround testing, and clear communication of changes in COVID-19<\/a> protocols; as well as guaranteed access to self-testing and personal leave for front-line providers.<\/p>\n The findings were published July 21 in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n “Occupational exposure has changed the vast majority of physicians’ behavior at both work and home,” Rodriguez said in a university news release. “At home, doctors are worried about exposing family members or roommates, possibly needing to self-quarantine, and the effects of excess social isolation because of their work on the front line.”<\/p>\n Researchers noted that majority of sites studied were in California, which at the time of the survey had not had the large surges of patients seen elsewhere.<\/p>\n Even so, levels of anxiety<\/a> among California doctors were similar to those in Louisiana and New Jersey, which were dealing with surges at the time.<\/p>\n Further research would examine stress<\/a> factors that have arisen as the pandemic has progressed, including child care and homeschooling demands; the economic impact of fewer patients overall in the ER; and possible development of long-term post-traumatic stress<\/a>.<\/p>\n — Robert Preidt<\/p>\n ![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
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