COVID-19 and Anxiety Amongst General Practitioners, Psychiatrists and Surgeons - A German Perspective].

The COVID-19 pandemic represents an exceptional challenge for the medical fraternity. We examined the differences in experiencing anxiety of general practitioners (GP), psychiatrists (PS) and surgeons (SU) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. E-mail-based survey (April-May 2020) of 608 physicians (GP n = 162, PS n = 299, SU n = 147) on anxiety experience in relation to COVID-19 and potential determinants. High levels of COVID-19-related anxiety were reported by 31.1 % of GP, 19.2 % of PS, and 11.6 % of SU. The frequency of contact with COVID-19 patients was highest in SU (68.5 %), followed by GP (51.0 %) and PS (8.1 %). The experience of COVID-19-related distress was overall highest among GP. SU felt best informed and rated their resilience most highly. A high level of anxiety was positively associated with the perceived risk of infection. Studies on the distress of physicians provide important information to optimize pandemic management. Thieme. All rights reserved.

Citation

Jens Bohlken, Alexander Pabst, Friedericke Schömig, Matthias Pumberger, Thomas Lempert, Bernhard Michalowsky, Steffi Riedel-Heller. COVID-19 and Anxiety Amongst General Practitioners, Psychiatrists and Surgeons - A German Perspective]. Psychiatrische Praxis. 2021 Aug 05

PMID: 34352893

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