Cited by 438COVID-19 and Mental HealthDisaster Response and ManagementHealthcare professionals’ stress and burnout

General hospital staff worries, perceived sufficiency of information and associated psychological distress during the A/H1N1 influenza pandemic

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Goulia, Panagiota, Mantas, Christos, Dimitroula, Danai, Mantis, Dimitrios, Hyphantis, Thomas·2010·BMC Infectious Diseases

Abstract

Background: Health care workers (HCWs) presented frequent concerns regarding their health and their families' health and high levels of psychological distress during previous disease outbreaks, such as the SARS outbreak, which was associated with social isolation and intentional absenteeism. We aimed to assess HCWs concerns and anxiety, perceived sufficiency of information, and intended behavior during the recent A/H1N1 influenza pandemic and their associations with psychological distress. Method: Between September 1 st and 30 th, 2009, 469 health-care workers (HCWs) of a tertiary teaching hospital completed a 20-item questionnaire regarding concerns and worries about the new A/H1N1 influenza pandemic, along with Cassileth's Information Styles Questionnaire (part-I) and the GHQ-28. Results: More than half of the present study's HCWs (56.7%) reported they were worried about the A/H1N1 influenza pandemic, their degree of anxiety being moderately high (median 6/9). The most frequent concern was infection of family and friends and the health consequences of the disease (54.9%). The perceived risk of being infected was considered moderately high (median 6/9). Few HCWs (6.6%) had restricted their social contacts and fewer (3.8%) felt isolated by their family members and friends because of their hospital work, while a low percentage (4.3%) indented to take a leave to avoid infection. However, worry and degree of worry were significantly associated with intended absenteeism (p < 0.0005), restriction of social contacts (p < 0.0005), and psychological distress (p = 0.036). Perceived sufficiency of information about several aspects of the A/H1N1 influenza was moderately high, and the overall information about the A/H1N1 influenza was considered clear (median 7.4/9). Also, perceived sufficiency of information for the prognosis of the infection was significantly independently associated with the degree of worry about the pandemic (p = 0.008). Conclusions: A significant proportion of HCWs experienced moderately high anxiety about the pandemic, and their degree of worry was an independent correlate of psychological distress. Since perceived sufficiency of information about the A/H1N1 influenza prognosis was associated with reduced degree of worry, hospital managers and consultation-liaison psychiatry services should try to provide for HCWs' need for information, in order to offer favourable working conditions in times of extreme distress, such as the current and future pandemics.

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  • Previous research found that more than half of individuals exhibit anxiety during virus-induced epidemics or pandemics.

    “Previous research has found that more than half of individuals exhibit anxiety during virus-induced epidemics or pandemics (Bults et al., 2011; Goulia et al., 2010).”

    From Understanding terror states of online users in the context of COVID-19: An application of Terror Management Theory (2021) · cites this paper as Goulia et al., 2010

    The Abstract Results report that 56.7% of healthcare workers were worried about the A/H1N1 pandemic and describe their anxiety as moderately high. This supports the more-than-half figure, but the study concerns hospital staff during one pandemic, not individuals generally across virus-induced epidemics or pandemics. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  1. The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/10/322/prepub

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Authors
Goulia, P., Mantas, C., Dimitroula, D., Mantis, D., & Hyphantis, T.
Affiliations
University of Ioannina (GR)
Corresponding author
Hyphantis, Thomas
Venue
BMC Infectious Diseases
Published
2010-11-09
Volume
10
Issue
1
Pages
322-322
ISSN
1471-2334 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2117198818
Cited by
438
References
35
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 74 · 2021: 162 · 2020: 126 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
FWCI
0.69
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • BMC Infectious Diseases (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Emergency Medical Services › Disaster Response and Management
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
Keywords
H1N1 influenza pandemic, healthcare workers, psychological distress, anxiety, social isolation, absenteeism, perceived infection risk, psychosomatic medicine, 2009 H1N1 pandemic, GHQ-28
MeSH terms
Adult, Anxiety, Female, Greece, Humans, Influenza, Human, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, Male, Middle Aged, Personnel, Hospital, Surveys and Questionnaires, Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype, Pandemics

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