ArticlePloS one2020
Fragile heroes. The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health-care workers in Italy.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
72 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 132 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in healthcare workers before and during COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Women's mental health and COVID-19: increased vulnerability and inequalities.Frontiers in global women's health · 2024Pooled it
- Risk factors of developing psychological problems among frontline healthcare professionals working in the COVID-19 pandemic era: a meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- COVID-19 Pandemic and Overall Mental Health of Healthcare Professionals Globally: A Meta-Review of Systematic Reviews.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Linguistic Predictors of Psychological Adjustment in Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Trial
- Development of a multicomponent survey of experiences of tragedy-based and fear-based trauma in COVID-19 healthcare professionals.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Workforce wellbeing centres and their positive role for wellbeing and presenteeism in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: secondary analysis of COVID-Well data.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Depressive Symptoms Among Healthcare Professionals at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia: A Cross-Sectional Study.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2024Article
- Risk and protection factors of mental stress among medical staff in the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Frontline Health Care Workers' Mental Health and Well-Being During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of Interviews and Social Media Data.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Psychological correlates of perceived loneliness in college students before and during the COVID-19 stay-at-home period: a longitudinal study.BMC psychology · 2023Article
- Mental health and the effects on methylation of stress-related genes in front-line versus other health care professionals during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic: an Italian pilot study.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2023Article
- The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic First Wave on Healthcare Workers: A New Perspective from Qualifying PTSD Criterion A to Assessing Post-Traumatic Growth.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Mental Health of Healthcare Professionals: Two Years of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Portugal.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- The Role of Pre-Pandemic Mental Health Status and Personality Traits on Psychological Distress during the COVID-19 Lockdown among Italian Young Adults.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Evaluation of physical and psychological status of health care workers infected with COVID-19 during a hospital outbreak in Japan.Journal of infection and chemotherapy : official journal of the Japan Society of Chemotherapy · 2023Article
- Mental Health of Healthcare Workers During the Third Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Did We Forget them after the First Wave?Advanced biomedical research · 2023Article
- Somatic burden in Russia during the COVID-19 pandemic.PloS one · 2023Article
- Psychometric evaluation of PHQ-9 and GAD-7 among community health volunteers and nurses/midwives in Kenya following a nation-wide telephonic survey.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Working in corona-designated departments in a fortified underground hospital: Concerns about corona and predictors of job burnout.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This survey-based study aimed to explore the mental health status and psychological care needs of 933 health-care workers in Italy during the COVID-19 outbreak. Sociodemographic data, exposure to COVID-19, perception of psychological care needs, depression, anxiety, somatization, and post-traumatic symptoms were concurrently assessed. The majority of the sample (71%) suffered from somatization and 55% of distress. Female care workers experienced higher levels of anxiety (d = 0.50) and somatization symptoms (d = 0.82) and stated they needed psychological care more than men (p < .001). Younger participants (aged <40 years-old) reported higher levels of somatization, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic symptoms (effects size range from d = 0.22 to d = 0.31). Working in a high infected area (red-zones) and directly with COVID-19 patients (front-line) affected the psychological health of participants to a smaller degree. Health-care workers who lost one of their patients reported higher levels of depression (d = 0.22), anxiety (d = 0.19), post-traumatic symptoms (d = 0.30), and psychological care needs than those who did not have the same experience (p < .01). Health-care workers who perceived the need for psychological support scored above the clinical alarming level (cut-off scores) in all the psychological scales, ranging from 76% to 88%. Psychological distress (p < .01), anxiety (p < .05), depression (p < .05), and being women (p < .01) contribute to explain the need for psychological care and accounted for 32% of the variance in this sample. These findings point out the importance to consider the psychological impact of COVID-19 on Italian health-care workers and strongly suggest establishing psychological support services for providing adequate professional care.
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