Physicians report stress, burnout, anxiety amid COVID-19 pandemic

Stress, burnout, anxiety, depression and fear of COVID-19 were reported among general practitioners throughout the pandemic, a global study published in the British Journal of General Practice found.

“While there has been a tendency for research like this to focus on hospital roles, there was a need to synthesize evidence and explore factors associated with [general practitioners’] mental health and well-being during the pandemic,” Laura Jefferson, PhD, MSc, a research fellow at the University of York in the U.K., said in a press release.

Jefferson and colleagues aimed to assess the mental health and well-being of primary care physicians during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using six bibliographic databases, as well as Google Scholar and MedRxiv, Jefferson and colleagues searched studies published from Nov. 19, 2020, through June 3, 2021, to identify publications involving the psychological well-being of general practitioners.

A total of 2,102 studies were identified. After 759 duplicates were removed, 1,056 were excluded by screening the titles and abstracts. Thirty-one studies were included in the analysis from the 287 remaining.

Multiple sources of stress were identified, including risk, exposures, inadequate amounts of PPE, information overload and pandemic preparedness. Psychological well-being was impacted as well, with physicians reporting stress, burnout, anxiety, depression, fear of COVID-19 and lower job satisfaction.

“Many [general practitioners] have reported stress and burnout over recent years, which is potentially damaging not just to doctors themselves, but also to patients and health care systems,” Jefferson said. “The COVID-19 pandemic has presented additional challenges for [general practitioners], including rapid change, risks of infection, remote working, pent-up demand and reductions in face-to-face patient care.”

Globally, just 9.5% of clinicians reported stress in Oman, compared with 24.7% of general practitioners in Portugal. Rates of anxiety ranged from 20% in those in Indonesia to 95% of clinicians in Turkey and Colombia. Rates of depression ranged from 13% in Indonesia to 37% in Italy.

“This [was] the first systematic review exploring the psychological well-being of primary care doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Jefferson said.

References:

Jefferson L, et al. Br J Gen Pract. 2022;doi:10.3399/BJGP.2021.0680.

COVID-19 has left GPs struggling around the world, new study shows. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220321205503.htm. Published March 21, 2022. Accessed April 11, 2022.