1. Health service and psychotropic medication use for mental health conditions among healthcare workers active during the Spain Covid-19 Pandemic - A prospective cohort study using web-based surveys.
- Author
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Mortier P, Vilagut G, García-Mieres H, Alayo I, Ferrer M, Amigo F, Aragonès E, Aragón-Peña A, Asúnsolo Del Barco Á, Campos M, Espuga M, González-Pinto A, Haro JM, López Fresneña N, Martínez de Salázar AD, Molina JD, Ortí-Lucas RM, Parellada M, Pelayo-Terán JM, Pérez-Gómez B, Pérez-Zapata A, Pijoan JI, Plana N, Polentinos-Castro E, Portillo-Van Diest A, Puig T, Rius C, Sanz F, Serra C, Urreta-Barallobre I, Kessler RC, Bruffaerts R, Vieta E, Pérez-Solá V, and Alonso J
- Subjects
- Humans, Female, Male, Mental Health, Pandemics, Suicide, Attempted psychology, Prospective Studies, Spain epidemiology, Health Services, Health Personnel, Internet, Depressive Disorder, Major, COVID-19
- Abstract
Little is known about healthcare workers' (HCW) use of healthcare services for mental disorders. This study presents data from a 16-month prospective cohort study of Spanish HCW (n = 4,809), recruited shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic onset, and assessed at four timepoints using web-based surveys. Use of health services among HCW with mental health conditions (i.e., those having a positive screen for mental disorders and/or suicidal thoughts and behaviours [STB]) was initially low (i.e., 18.2 %) but increased to 29.6 % at 16-month follow-up. Service use was positively associated with pre-pandemic mental health treatment (OR=1.99), a positive screen for major depressive disorder (OR=1.50), panic attacks (OR=1.74), suicidal thoughts and behaviours (OR=1.22), and experiencing severe role impairment (OR=1.33), and negatively associated with being female (OR = 0.69) and a higher daily number of work hours (OR=0.95). Around 30 % of HCW with mental health conditions used anxiolytics (benzodiazepines), especially medical doctors. Four out of ten HCW (39.0 %) with mental health conditions indicated a need for (additional) help, with most important barriers for service use being too ashamed, long waiting lists, and professional treatment not being available. Our findings delineate a clear mental health treatment gap among Spanish HCW., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Enric Aragonès reports personal fees from Lündbeck and Esteve. Eduard Vieta reports personal fees from Abbott, Allergan, Angelini, Lundbeck, Sage and Sanofi, grants from Novartis and Ferrer, and grants and personal fees from Janssen, outside the submitted work. José María Pelayo-Terán reports personal fees from Angelini, Janssen and Lunbeck, and grants from Janssen, outside the submitted work. In the past 3 years, Ronald C. Kessler was a consultant for Cambridge Health Alliance, Canandaigua VA Medical Centre, Holmusk, Partners Healthcare, Inc., RallyPoint Networks, Inc., and Sage Therapeutics. He has stock options in Cerebral Inc., Mirah, PYM (Prepare Your Mind), and Roga Sciences. Ana González-Pinto has received grants and served as consultant, advisor or CME speaker for the following entities: Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Alter, Angelini, Exeltis, Novartis, Rovi, Takeda, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CIBERSAM), the Ministry of Science (Carlos III Institute), the Basque Government, and the European Framework Program of Research. All other authors reported no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2024
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