Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34586704›Full record

ArticleThe Australian journal of rural health2021

Mental health and well-being impacts of COVID-19 on rural paramedics, police, community nurses and child protection workers.

Russell Roberts, Alfred Wong, Stacey Jenkins, Alain Neher, Clare Sutton, Peter O'Meara, Mark Frost, Larissa Bamberry, Abhishek Dwivedi

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Article in The Australian journal of rural health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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  20. 13The Australian journal of rural health · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Russell RobertsCharles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3442-8366
Alfred WongCharles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW, Australia.
Stacey JenkinsCharles Sturt University, Wagga, NSW, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8490-3394
Alain NeherCharles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6057-1003
Clare SuttonCharles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6976-5269
Peter O'MearaMonash University, Frankston, Vic., Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8657-5646
Mark FrostCharles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW, Australia.
Larissa BamberryCharles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1013-5286
Abhishek DwivediCharles Sturt University, Albury, NSW, Australia.

Funding

Charles Sturt University COVID-19 Research Fund H20183
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo investigate the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health and well-being of rural paramedics, police, community nursing and child protection staff.

methodAn online survey was distributed to investigate the sources of stress and support across individual, task and organisational domains. SETTING AND

participantsThe survey was completed by 1542 paramedics, police, community nurses and child protection workers from all states and territories of Australia. This study describes the data for the 632 rural participants.

main outcome measuresThe main measures of well-being were the Public Health Questionnaire (PHQ9), the Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD7), the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), workplace engagement, intention to quit and COVID-19-related stress.

resultsThe mean depression and anxiety scores were 8.2 (PHQ9) and 6.8 (GAD7). This is 2-3 times that found in the general community. Over half (56.1%) of respondents showed high emotional exhaustion (burnout). The emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and personal accomplishment mean scores were 28.5, 9.3 and 34.2, respectively. The strongest associations with burnout and psychological distress were workload, provision of practical support, training and organisational communication. A significant proportion of respondents were seriously considering quitting (27.4%) or looking for a new job with a different employer (28.5%) in the next 12 months.

conclusionsCOVID-19 has increased the workload and stress on rural front-line community staff. The major sources of stress were related to organisations' responses to COVID-19 and not COVID-19 per se. The data suggest the most effective mental health interventions are practical and preventive, such as firstly ensuring fair and reasonable workloads.

Indexed as

Burnout, ProfessionalAllied Health PersonnelChildCOVID-19HumansMental HealthNursesPoliceSARS-CoV-2Surveys and QuestionnairesWorkloaddepressionmanagementmental healthoccupational health and safetyworkforce

Identifiers

PMID34586704
PMCPMC8653026

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.