Impact of the COVID‐19‐pandemic and perception of self‐efficacy on the mental health of out‐of‐hospital emergency healthcare professionals by modality of care

Abstract

Objective

To analyse the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the perception of self-efficacy on the health professionals of the Spanish out-of-hospital emergency services.

Design

Observational, cross-sectional and descriptive with a survey methodology of 1710 participants from Spain (1 February–30 April, 2021).

Methods

The mental health of healthcare workers was assesed in terms of stress, anxiety and depression, as well as their self-efficacy. Linear and logistic regression models were fitted to predict these variables. A moderation analysis was conducted to determine the effect of self-efficacy on mental health.

Results

The means of the sample for stress, anxiety, depression and self-efficacy were 20.60, 15.74, 13.07 and 70.87, respectively. In the regression models, being a woman was the most significant factor for severe mental health impairment. Female gender was also a relevant factor for self-efficacy. Self-efficacy had a direct effect on the mental health for working in patient care.

Conclusions

Healthcare workers showed moderate stress, severe anxiety, mild depression and good self-efficacy. Direct patient care was associated with more stress and severe anxiety. Age, female gender, job changes and job adjustment were associated with levels of stress, anxiety and depression. Self-efficacy is a determining factor of mental health in the direct care modality.

Implications

The mental health of healthcare workers has been of great importance in the aftermath of the pandemic, but out-of-hospital emergency workers have been neglected in research. The levels of stress, anxiety and depression during the pandemic justify the creation of prevention and early diagnosis programmes, as they are essential in a health disaster. Surprisingly, their high level of perceived self-efficacy directly impact on the mental health of patient helthcare workers, so improving it will reduce the psychological risk.

Reporting Method

We have followed the STROBE guidelines. It has been partially funded by the Asistencia Sanitanitaria Interprovincial de Seguros - ASISA Foundation (Spain).

Patient or Public Contribution

‘No patient or public involvement’.

Mental health and risk of death and hospitalization in COVID–19 patients. Results from a large-scale population-based study in Spain

by Aida Moreno-Juste, Beatriz Poblador-Plou, Cristina Ortega-Larrodé, Clara Laguna-Berna, Francisca González-Rubio, Mercedes Aza-Pascual-Salcedo, Kevin Bliek-Bueno, María Padilla, Concepción de-la-Cámara, Alexandra Prados-Torres, Luis A. Gimeno-Feliú, Antonio Gimeno-Miguel

The COVID–19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for health care systems globally. This study aimed to explore the presence of mental illness in a Spanish cohort of COVID-19-infected population and to evaluate the association between the presence of specific mental health conditions and the risk of death and hospitalization. This is a retrospective cohort study including all individuals with confirmed infection by SARS-CoV-2 from the PRECOVID (Prediction in COVID–19) Study (Aragon, Spain). Mental health illness was defined as the presence of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, anxiety, cognitive disorders, depression and mood disorders, substance abuse, and personality and eating disorders. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine the likelihood of 30-day all-cause mortality and COVID–19 related hospitalization based on baseline demographic and clinical variables, including the presence of specific mental conditions, by gender. We included 144,957 individuals with confirmed COVID–19 from the PRECOVID Study (Aragon, Spain). The most frequent diagnosis in this cohort was anxiety. However, some differences were observed by sex: substance abuse, personality disorders and schizophrenia were more frequently diagnosed in men, while eating disorders, depression and mood, anxiety and cognitive disorders were more common among women. The presence of mental illness, specifically schizophrenia spectrum and cognitive disorders in men, and depression and mood disorders, substance abuse, anxiety and cognitive and personality disorders in women, increased the risk of mortality or hospitalization after COVID–19, in addition to other well-known risk factors such as age, morbidity and treatment burden. Identifying vulnerable patient profiles at risk of serious outcomes after COVID–19 based on their mental health status will be crucial to improve their access to the healthcare system and the establishment of public health prevention measures for future outbreaks.

Prehospital acute life-threatening cardiovascular disease in elderly: an observational, prospective, multicentre, ambulance-based cohort study

Objective

The aim was to explore the association of demographic and prehospital parameters with short-term and long-term mortality in acute life-threatening cardiovascular disease by using a hazard model, focusing on elderly individuals, by comparing patients under 75 years versus patients over 75 years of age.

Design

Prospective, multicentre, observational study.

Setting

Emergency medical services (EMS) delivery study gathering data from two back-to-back studies between 1 October 2019 and 30 November 2021. Six advanced life support (ALS), 43 basic life support and five hospitals in Spain were considered.

Participants

Adult patients suffering from acute life-threatening cardiovascular disease attended by the EMS.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality from any cause within the first to the 365 days following EMS attendance. The main measures included prehospital demographics, biochemical variables, prehospital ALS techniques used and syndromic suspected conditions.

Results

A total of 1744 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The 365-day cumulative mortality in the elderly amounted to 26.1% (229 cases) versus 11.6% (11.6%) in patients under 75 years old. Elderly patients (≥75 years) presented a twofold risk of mortality compared with patients ≤74 years. Life-threatening interventions (mechanical ventilation, cardioversion and defibrillation) were also related to a twofold increased risk of mortality. Importantly, patients suffering from acute heart failure presented a more than twofold increased risk of mortality.

Conclusions

This study revealed the prehospital variables associated with the long-term mortality of patients suffering from acute cardiovascular disease. Our results provide important insights for the development of specific codes or scores for cardiovascular diseases to facilitate the risk of mortality characterisation.

Seguridad de la terapia vasoactiva en adultos con choque séptico mediante un catéter venoso periférico

Objetivo principal: Evidenciar la seguridad del inicio de vasopresores mediante un catéter venoso periférico corto en pacientes adultos con diagnóstico de choque séptico, a través de la metodología Enfermería Basada en Evidencia. Metodología: Revisión sistemática. La búsqueda de evidencia se realizó en dos periodos, del 15 al 23 de septiembre del 2022 y del 3 al 20 de octubre del 2022, se utilizaron fuentes de búsqueda e información: base de datos PubMed y el buscador Google académico. Resultados principales: Se evaluaron 19679 pacientes, el tiempo de administración de la infusión fue de 101.05 horas, con una duración media de 22.63 horas, el evento adverso con más incidencia fue la extravasación con duración media de 7.5 horas, el vasopresor más utilizado fue la norepinefrina. Conclusión principal: Administrar vasopresores por vía periférica es seguro, considerando factores que reducirían significativamente el riesgo de complicaciones.

Leche materna versus sacarosa ante punción venosa y heel prick

Introducción: Las intervenciones que realizamos a los RN ingresados en nuestra unidad pueden causar dolor y estrés, traduciéndose en signos conductuales y fisiológicos. Método: Se realizó un ensayo clínico controlado aleatorizado en la UCI de neonatos durante un año, el objetivo fue conocer si existen diferencias significativas en cuanto al uso de leche materna vs sacarosa 25% como método analgésico no farmacológico en la realización de procedimientos dolorosos (punción venosa y punción del talón). Se usó para evaluar el dolor la escala de Susan Given Bells (antes y tras 2minutos de nuestra intervención). Material: Se incluyeron los recién nacidos entre 25-40 se-manas de gestación y que no cumpliesen criterios de exclusión. Resultados: Se usó para el análisis estadístico la t-student y el test de chi cuadrado, observando como principal resultado que en la extracción venosa (N=59) es más efectivo el uso de leche materna, sufriendo menor aumento del dolor tras la misma(p<0,029). También se observa relación significativa entre la edad gestacional corregida y el dolor tras la extracción venosa, obteniendo que los recién nacidos > 32 semanas tienen mayor aumento de dolor posterior (p<0,011). En la de punción de talón (N=76), no se hallaron diferencias entre la sacarosa y leche materna, tampoco al analizar otras variables (sexo, edad gestacional, crecimiento intrauterino retardado, llanto o canguro) Conclusiones: Se propone el uso de leche materna como método anal-gésico para el control del dolor en punción de talón y extracción venosa. Ya que demuestra su eficacia y carece de efectos secundarios.

Tomar la dosis de acenocumarol en ayunas favorece obtener un tratamiento anticoagulante valorado como óptimo

Objetivo principal: analizar si tomar la dosis de acenocumarol en ayunas favorece lograr un porcentaje de tiempo en rango terapéutico (TRT) valo-rado como óptimo. Metodología: estudio observacional, analítico. Se enseñó a 122 pacientes anticoagulados con acenocumarol una recomenda-ción del prospecto del medicamento (revisión, 2017): “tomar la dosis diaria lo más alejada de las comidas”. Seguimiento desde abril a octubre de 2018. Para cada paciente, en el control de INR, se registró su valor y si tomaba la dosis en ayunas. Finalizado el seguimiento se calculó su TRT. Resultados principales: en aquellos pacientes con una valoración del TRT igual o mayor al 60 %, la diferencia de proporciones entre los que toma-ban la dosis en ayunas y los que la tomaban con alimentos fue de 0,28 (IC 95 %: 0,09 a 0,44). Estadísticamente significativo, p = 0,004. Conclusión principal: tomar acenocumarol en ayunas favorece obtener un tratamiento anticoagulante valorado como óptimo.