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Purpose of Review: To systematically examine changes in suicide trends following the initial COVID-19 outbreak, focusing on geographical and temporal heterogeneity and on differences across sociodemographic subgroups., Recent Findings: Of 46 studies, 26 had low risk of bias. In general, suicides remained stable or decreased following the initial outbreak - however, suicide increases were detected during spring 2020 in Mexico, Nepal, India, Spain, and Hungary; and after summer 2020 in Japan. Trends were heterogeneous across sociodemographic groups (i.e., there were increases among racially minoritized individuals in the US, young adults and females across ages in Japan, older males in Brazil and Germany, and older adults across sex in China and Taiwan). Variations may be explained by differences in risk of COVID-19 contagion and death and in socioeconomic vulnerability. Monitoring geographical, temporal, and sociodemographic differences in suicide trends during the COVID-19 pandemic is critical to guide suicide prevention efforts., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

We examined whether excess chronic medical comorbidity mediated excess COVID-19 inpatient mortality among people with mental disorders in the early phase of the pandemic, a question with important implications for public health and clinical decision-making. Using records of 2599 COVID-19 hospitalized patients, we conducted a formal causal mediation analysis to estimate the extent to which chronic comorbidity mediates the association between mental disorders and COVID-19 mortality. The Odds Ratio (95% CI) for Natural Indirect Effect and Controlled Direct Effect were 1.07(1.02, 1.14) and 1.40 (1.00, 1.95), respectively, suggesting that a large proportion of excess COVID-19 mortality among people with mental disorders may be explained by factors other than comorbidity., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.)

Due to the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care systems, there has been great interest in the mental wellbeing of healthcare workers. While most studies investigated mental health outcomes among frontline vs. non-frontline healthcare workers, little is known about the impact of various work-related variables. The present study aimed to examine the association between work-related [i.e., having contact with COVID-19 patients, being redeployed due to the pandemic and availability of sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE)] and subjective (i.e., worries about getting infected or infecting others) exposures and self-reported mental health outcomes (i.e., psychological distress, depressive symptoms, and posttraumatic stress symptoms). Between February and May 2021, 994 healthcare workers employed at a variety of healthcare settings in the Netherlands filled out an online survey as part of the COVID-19 HEalth caRe wOrkErS (HEROES) study. Mental health outcomes were measured using the General Health Questionnaire-12, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and the Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5. Approximately 13% reported depressive symptoms, 37% experienced psychological distress, and 20% reported posttraumatic stress symptoms. Multilevel linear models consisted of three levels: individual (work-related and subjective exposures), healthcare center (aggregated redeployment and availability of sufficient PPE), and regional (cumulative COVID-19 infection and death rates). Worries about infection were associated with all three mental health outcomes, whereas insufficient PPE was associated with psychological distress and depressive symptoms. There were no differences in outcomes between healthcare centers or provinces with different COVID-19 infection and death rates. Our findings highlight the importance of adequate PPE provision and the subjective experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. These factors should be part of interventions aimed at mitigating adverse mental health outcomes among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Czepiel, Hoek, van der Markt, Rutten, Veling, Schirmbeck, Mascayano, Susser and van der Ven.)

Background: In the United States, New York State's health care system experienced unprecedented stress as an early epicenter of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aims to assess the level of hopelessness in New York State physicians working on the frontlines during the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak., Methods: A confidential online survey sent to New York State health care workers by the state health commissioner's office was used to gather demographic and hopelessness data as captured by a brief Hopelessness Scale. Adjusted linear regression models were used to assess the associations of physician age, sex, and number of triage decisions made, with level of hopelessness., Results: In total, 1330 physicians were included, of whom 684 were male (51.4%). Their average age was 52.4 years (SD=12.7), with the majority of respondents aged 50 years and older (55.2%). Almost half of the physician respondents (46.3%) worked directly with COVID-19 patients, and 163 (12.3%) were involved in COVID-19-related triage decisions. On adjusted analysis, physicians aged 40 to 49 years had significantly higher levels of hopelessness compared with those aged 50 years or more (μ=0.441, SD=0.152, P=0.004). Those involved in 1 to 5 COVID-19-related triage decisions had a significantly lower mean hopelessness score (μ=-0.572, SD=0.208, P=0.006) compared with physicians involved in none of these decisions., Conclusion: Self-reported hopelessness was significantly higher among physicians aged 40 to 49 years and those who had not yet been involved in a life or death triage decision. Further work is needed to identify strategies to support physicians at high risk for adverse mental health outcomes during public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The COVID-19 Healthcare Personnel Study (CHPS) was designed to assess adverse short-term and long-term physical and mental health impacts of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on New York's physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants., Methods: Online population-based survey. Survey-weighted descriptive results, frequencies, proportions, and means, with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Odds ratios (ORs) for association., Results: Over half (51.5%; 95% CI: 49.1, 54.0) of respondents worked directly with COVID-19 patients; 27.3% (95% CI: 22.5, 32.2) tested positive. The majority (57.6%; 95% CI: 55.2, 60.0) reported a negative impact on their mental health. Negative mental health was associated with COVID-19 symptoms (OR=1.7, 95% CI: 1.3, 2.1) and redeployment to unfamiliar functions (OR=1.3, 95% CI: 1.1, 1.6)., Conclusions: A majority of New York health care providers treated COVID-19 patients and reported a negative impact on their mental health., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)