![]() ![]() Some of them worked as epidemiologic investigators, doing contact tracing and triage of possible COVID-19 contacts. For approximately 8 months, since February 2020, PHDs were the workforce of front-line disease control operations at screening centers, airport quarantine stations, makeshift shelters, and temporary isolation facilities, collecting swabs and managing patients. Approximately 700 doctors per year become a part of the PHD system, a government entity, and are assigned the task of providing healthcare to the medically marginalized population across the nation, especially in rural areas. ![]() The PHDs are a group of male doctors in South Korea who enlist for 3 years as an alternative to mandatory military duty. When an outbreak occurred, the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) instantly moved public health doctors (PHDs) to areas where screening tests on all suspected COVID-19 patients could be performed, with the confirmed-positive patients quickly quarantined and provided necessary treatment. Īs of August 2020, the aggressive disease control measures proposed by the governments worldwide began to slow the spread of the disease. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 an international public health emergency on Januand by March 31st of 2021, more than 128,991,501 got infected, and more than 2,819,373 have died as a result of COVID-19 infection. Viral potency approaching that of the common cold made containing the disease an unforetold challenge for the authorities, while the unknown mortality, estimated as 0.1–25%, meant that COVID-19 required high levels of quarantine nonetheless. The virus has caused a quarantine crisis unlike any seen before. The virus’ properties were still unknown when it began to spread worldwide and world authorities were alerted. ![]() This new strain of coronavirus had an unknown virulence that seemed to cause high levels of fatality in Wuhan, China, the city where the infection of a human host was first recorded. Sufficient supply of personal protective equipment and training on infection prevention at frontline, proper workhours and satisfactory monetary compensation, and psychological supports are required for better mental health of public health doctors at frontline of COVID-19 pandemic.Ĭoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a worldwide pandemic since its appearance in December 2019. Satisfaction of monetary compensation and proactive coping (acceptance and willingness to volunteer at frontline) were predictive of better mental health. ![]() Predictors of poor mental health found in the multivariate logistic regression analyses were environmental (insufficient personal protective equipment, workplace of screening center, prolonged workhours) and psychosocial (fear of infection and death, social stigma and rejection) aspects of working experiences at frontline. Perceived distress, lowered self-efficacy at work, anxiety, and depressive mood were reported by 45.7, 34.6, 11.4, and 15.1% of respondents, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression models of mental health with lowest Akaike Information Criterion were determined among all combinations of working environments, perceived threats and satisfaction at frontline, and demographics that were significant ( P < 0.05) in the univariate logistic regression. Mental health was defined using the total scores of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Stanford Presenteeism Scale-6. With first-come and first-served manner, 350 public health doctors with experiences of work at COVID-19 frontline participated online survey on August 2020. The current study aimed to find predictors of mental health for public health doctors from working experiences at frontline of COVID-19 pandemic. Demographic, work environmental, and psychosocial features are associated with mental health of healthcare professionals at pandemic frontline. ![]()
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