“Previous evidence has shown that these experiences can lead to stress, fatigue and exhaustion, which can increase the risk of common mental disorders,” said Scherer, research assistant at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The researchers analyzed 65 studies that, together, included more than 97,000 people for the global study. The analysis divided the numbers by region and found that health professionals in the Middle East had the highest rates of anxiety and depression, with 28.9% and 34.6% facing these mental health challenges, respectively.
“The Middle East has had a large number of patients with COVID-19 and that number of cases may put additional pressure on healthcare professionals,” said Scherer by email.
North America had the worst ranking, with 14.8% of health professionals suffering from anxiety and 18.7% suffering from depression.
However, only seven studies looked at data from the Middle East and two from North America, so Scherer said it is important to be careful when interpreting the results.
The researchers took the average of the results from nine of the 65 studies to estimate that 21.5% of health professionals in all regions experienced moderate levels of PTSD.
But it is not always easy for healthcare professionals to ask for help. CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, said last May that it may be difficult for people to recognize the psychological impact of frontline workers.
The pandemic has frontline workers “running a sprint marathon, with no end in sight,” said CNN emergency physician and medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen, who is also a visiting professor at the Institute’s School of Public Health Milken at George Washington University. She explained that people need to understand mental health as no different than physical health and make it a priority.
As the pandemic progresses, Shekhar Saxena, professor of global mental health practice at the Harvard School of Public Health TH Chan, said it will be important to track these numbers over time and include data on burnout, suicide attempts and deaths, which were not not included in this study.
In addition to providing treatment and resources for healthcare professionals, Scherer said research needs to be done on which aspects of the pandemic are causing stress in the first place.
“We could investigate the association between hours of work and elevated symptoms as an example,” he said.
Saxena, who did not participate in the study, said that studying these associations can lead to “organizational actions” or actions that a workplace can take to create an environment that limits excessive stress.
The key is to ensure an approach that “values the perspective and contribution of health professionals alongside mental health experts,” said Scherer by email.