Objective: The study aimed to investigate the mental health and emotional reaction of physicians working during phase 1 of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy Methods: A total of 458 Italian Health Care Workers (HCWs) working during phases 1 of the COVID-19 outbreak were voluntarily enlisted in the study and recruited with the snowball technique through an online survey We examined our variables with the General Health Questionnaire – 12 and with Visual Analog Scales Results: The sample has a high level of psychological distress 21 26 (SD = 4 46), the emotional reaction was characterized by high level of fear for family members and cohabitants (M = 77 67, SD = 27 16) and patients (M = 67 16, SD = 27 71) Perceived control, fear for patients, and for family members and cohabitants, feeling alone and anger all contribute to a decreased mental health in Italian physicians (R2 = 0 285, p &lt;0 001) Conclusion: Italian HCWs’ mental health and emotional reaction have to be considered to prevent high risk of burnout and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) It becomes pivotal in the next months to implement a tailored psychological intervention to take care of HCWs and to prevent costly consequences for them, patients, and the healthcare system © Copyright © 2020 Marton, Vergani, Mazzocco, Garassino and Pravettoni
2020s Heroes Are Not Fearless: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Wellbeing and Emotions of Italian Health Care Workers During Italy Phase 1