NCT04344145

Exhaustion and Needs in Frontline COVID-19 Healthcare Workers: Cross-sectional Study in a Belgian Population

Completed Last updated 9 September 2020

What this trial tests

trial in COVID-19 in 693 participants. Completed in 29 May 2020.

Timeline

16 April 2020

Primary endpoint
25 May 2020

29 May 2020

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Université Libre de Bruxelles
Status	Completed
Study type	OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment	693
Start date	16 April 2020
Primary completion	25 May 2020
Estimated completion	29 May 2020
Sites	5 locations across Belgium

Conditions studied

• COVID-19 — all drugs for COVID-19 →

Sponsor

Université Libre de Bruxelles — full company profile →

Who can join

18 and older, any sex, with COVID-19. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Background: In the Covid-19 pandemic context, all healthcare teams face clinical, organizational and technical challenges given the contagion, severity and mortality characteristics of the disease. A study reported the negative psychological impact on healthcare workers of this new situation, in terms of depression, anxiety and distress. Working in frontline constitutes an independent risk factor for worse mental health outcomes.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study aiming to compare levels of burnout, emotional distress and needs between frontline Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 healthcare workers. Any physician, nurse and physiotherapist will be recruited from emergency care units and Covid-19 care units (target group) and from non-Covid-19 care units (control group) from different hospitals in Belgium. The participation will occur on a voluntary basis. Participants will be recruited from April 15th 2020 to May 15th 2020. Participants will complete self-reported questionnaires and scales. A mixed-mode data collection will be carried out, either in paper or web-based form. This mixed-mode survey will ensure the highest range of participants, considering the hygiene and organizational requirements for target care units. Assessment will provide socio-demographic characteristics and professional information. It will also measure professional fulfillment and burnout with the Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI), emotional distress with the Depression, Anxiety and Distress Scale-Short Form (DASS-21), sleep disturbance with the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and needs with the Needs and Difficulties Inventory (developed for the study).

Hypothesis: This study is based on the hypothesis that higher levels of burnout, depression, anxiety and stress will be found in frontline Covid-19 healthcare workers than in non-Covid-19 healthcare workers. Considering the unprecedented challenges for healthcare workers and organizations, and considering the exploratory nature of the study, no hypothesis is made for the needs of the healthcare workers.

Statistical Analysis: Means and standard deviation will be calculated for the PFI, the DASS-21, the ISI and the NDI. Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) will be performed including the PFI, the DASS-21 and the ISI scores to test the effect of group (work position), occupation and the two-way group × occupation interaction effect. Age, gender, profession, sector of activity, job status and job experience will be entered as covariate. Odds ratio will be also provided. All tests are two-tailed and alpha is set at .05. All analyzes will be performed using IBM SPSS®, version 26.

Publications & conference data

1 peer-reviewed publication reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Mental Health Outcomes in Healthcare Workers in COVID-19 and Non-COVID-19 Care Units: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Belgium.
   Tiete J, Guatteri M, Lachaux A, Matossian A, et al · · 2020 · cited 72× · PMID 33469439 · DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.612241