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Background: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic greatly impacted healthcare workers (HCWs) dedicated to COVID-19 patients. A cross-sectional investigation was conducted in a large European hospital to study the psychological distress of HCWs engaged in COVID-19 wards in the early phase of the pandemic. Methods: A questionnaire was sent to 1229 HCWs to collect the following information: i) sociodemographic data; ii) depression, anxiety, and stress scales (DASS-21); iii) event impact scale (IES-R); iv) perceived stress scale (PSS); and v) work interface analysis. Regardless of the outcome of the questionnaire, all subjects were offered psychological support voluntarily. Results: Approximately two-thirds of the workers reported no symptoms according to the DASS-21 scales, the corresponding figures for the IES-R and PSS scales being 36% and 43%, respectively. There were no differences in the levels of depression investigated through the different scales in the various occupational categories. Symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression were more pronounced in women, whereas the highest stress levels were observed in the younger age groups. The highest scores were observed on the DAS-21 scales of anxiety and IES-R but not on the others. Only 51 workers, most with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, sought clinical psychological counseling, and more than half received subsequent psychological support. Conclusions. Our results agree with most of the literature data that anxiety, depression, and stress are associated with gender (female), age (18-44 vs. over 55), and having cared for patients with COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In physiotherapists, biomechanical overload risk assessment (RA) is particularly complex due to the tasks' variability. The present study aims to propose a new methodology, named Whole Body RA Musculoskeletal Biomechanical Overload (WB-RAMBO), to assess the risk in the activities performed by physiotherapists. Methods: Each type of intervention was broken down into elementary operations. The risk factors (force, repetitiveness, and incongruous postures) were recorded and evaluated for each of these. For each task, the risk level was obtained by integrating the results of multiple ergonomic methods among those proposed by the international literature. To verify and validate the obtained results, we reviewed the medical records of health surveillance carried out on physiotherapists. Results: From the ergonomic point of view, RA shows a situation of acceptability. The observed slight dysergonomies are diluted in the work shift and allow an optimal functional recovery of the musculoskeletal system. Conclusions: This method proposes a RA for each operation performed. A work plan subjected to such a peculiar RA can be redesigned and adapted to the company's and the hypersusceptible worker's organizational needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]