ReviewBMC psychiatry2021
Experiences and management of physician psychological symptoms during infectious disease outbreaks: a rapid review.
Review in BMC psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 75 citations in OpenAlex.
- Burnout before and during COVID: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 48 698 trainees.Medical education · 2025Pooled it
- Organizational interventions to support and promote the mental health of healthcare workers during pandemics and epidemics: a systematic review.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled it
- Psychosocial impact of Marburg virus disease on recovered individuals and frontline health workers in Rwanda: a cross-sectional survey.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Perceived Stress Among Medical Doctors Working in Nepal: An Observational Study.JNMA; journal of the Nepal Medical Association · 2026Observational
- Coping strategies, resilience and quality of life: reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic among Romanian physicians.Human resources for health · 2024Article
- Physician marriage survey reveals sex and specialty differences in marital satisfaction factors.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Mental health of primary health care physicians and nurses following prolonged infection control rules: a national survey in China.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Professional Quality of Life and Psychological Impact on Frontline Healthcare Worker during the Fourth Wave of COVID-19.Journal of nursing management · 2024Article
- Diagnostic testing for chest pain in a pediatric emergency department and rates of cardiac disease before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective study.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2024Article
- Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric healthcare burnout in acute care: a longitudinal study.Pediatric research · 2023Article
- A qualitative descriptive study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on staff in a Canadian intensive care unit.Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthesie · 2023Article
- Prevalence of Perceived Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in HCW in Kosovo during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Mental wellbeing among Danish employees during the COVID-19 pandemic: results from a longitudinal study on the role of industry and working environment.European journal of public health · 2022Article
- Perfectionism as a predictor of physician burnout.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Physical Activity and Mental Health Declined during the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Literature Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Sleep Disorders and Mental Stress of Healthcare Workers during the Two First Waves of COVID-19 Pandemic: Separate Analysis for Primary Care.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Managing the Mental Health of Healthcare Professionals in Times of Crisis: The Aruban COVID-19 Experience.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Psychological distress among outpatient physicians in private practice linked to COVID-19 and related mental health during the second lockdown.Journal of psychiatric research · 2022Article
- Burnout syndrome in Nova Scotia dental hygienists during the COVID-19 pandemic: Maslach Burnout Inventory.Canadian journal of dental hygiene : CJDH = Journal canadien de l'hygiene dentaire : JCHD · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrior to the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians experienced unprecedented levels of burnout. The uncertainty of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic along with increased workload and difficult medical triage decisions may lead to a further decline in physician psychological health.
methodsWe searched Medline, EMBASE, and PsycINFO for primary research from database inception (Medline [1946], EMBASE [1974], PsycINFO [1806]) to November 17, 2020. Titles and abstracts were screened by one of three reviewers and full-text article screening and data abstraction were conducted independently, and in duplicate, by three reviewers.
resultsFrom 6223 unique citations, 480 articles were reviewed in full-text, with 193 studies (of 90,499 physicians) included in the final review. Studies reported on physician psychological symptoms and management during seven infectious disease outbreaks (severe acute respiratory syndrome [SARS], three strains of Influenza A virus [H1N1, H5N1, H7N9], Ebola, Middle East respiratory syndrome [MERS], and COVID-19) in 57 countries. Psychological symptoms of anxiety (14.3-92.3%), stress (11.9-93.7%), depression (17-80.5%), post-traumatic stress disorder (13.2-75.2%) and burnout (14.7-76%) were commonly reported among physicians, regardless of infectious disease outbreak or country. Younger, female (vs. male), single (vs. married), early career physicians, and those providing direct care to infected patients were associated with worse psychological symptoms.
interpretationPhysicians should be aware that psychological symptoms of anxiety, depression, fear and distress are common, manifest differently and self-management strategies to improve psychological well-being exist. Health systems should implement short and long-term psychological supports for physicians caring for patients with COVID-19.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.