Minerva Anestesiologica 2021 Jan 12

DOI: 10.23736/S0375-9393.20.14853-3

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Post-traumatic stress disorder, burnout and their impact on global functioning in Italian emergency healthcare workers

Claudia CARMASSI ¹, Paolo MALACARNE ², Valerio DELL'OSTE ¹ ✉, Carlo A. BERTELLONI ¹, Annalisa CORDONE ¹, Claudia FOGHI ¹, Liliana DELL'OSSO ¹

¹ Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy; ² Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana (AOUP), Pisa, Italy

BACKGROUND: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Burnout are severe and frequent conditions among emergency healthcare workers exposed to repeated workrelated traumatic experiences. The aim of the present study was to investigate PTSD, Burnout and global functioning in a sample of emergency healthcare workers (HCWs) of a major University Hospital of Italy, exploring possible correlations between the two constructs.
METHODS: The study sample included 137 medical and nursing Emergency Room and Intensive Care Unit staff of a major University Hospital in Italy (Pisa), all assessed by means of the Trauma and Loss Spectrum-Self Report (TALS-SR), for post-traumatic stress spectrum, the Professional Quality of Life Scale - Revision IV (ProQOL R-IV), for Burnout related to work activities, and the Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS), for global functioning.
RESULTS: Fourty-nine subjects reported a full (18, 14.3%) or partial (31, 24.6%) symptomatological DSM-5 PTSD. HCWs with PTSD reported significantly higher Burnout scores and global functioning impairment compared to those without PTSD. Mean to good significant correlations emerged between the TALS-SR total and domains scores, the ProQOL subscales and the WSAS scores.
CONCLUSIONS: This work, conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic, underlines a positive correlation between Burnout and Post-Traumatic Stress Spectrum symptoms in Emergency HCWs, showing the need for a deeper assessment of work-related posttraumatic stress symptoms in such population in order to improve the well-being and to prevent Burnout.

KEY WORDS: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); Burnout; Intensive care unit (ICU); Emergency room (ER); Healthcare workers (HCWs)