Post-traumatic stress disorder among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: Effectiveness of an eye movement desensitization and reprocessing intervention protocol.

Aim: The Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic represents one of the most catastrophic events of recent times. Due to the hospitals' emergency situation, the population of healthcare workers was the most affected. Healthcare workers who were exposed to COVID-19 patients are most likely to develop psychological distress and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study aimed at investigating PTSD in a sample of Italian healthcare workers during this outbreak and to evaluate the effectiveness of the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy with this population. Methods: A total of 744 healthcare workers were included. 587 healthcare workers were treated with EMDR, while the other 157 were not treated. Participants were asked to provide sociodemographic information; the post-traumatic symptomatology was evaluated through Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and to investigate the level of intensity of emotional activation was used The Emotion Thermometer (THERMO) at two time points (pre-post treatment). Results: The results obtained between EMDR treatment and non-EMDR treatment were evaluated on only 2 hospitals. Treatment group Limitation: The emergency situation did not provide an opportunity to explore further aspects that would have been important for research. One limitation is the use and analysis of only two standardized tests. In addition, other psychopathologies were not investigated as outcome measures. A limitation is the comparison of subjects treated online and Discussion/conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest that healthcare workers were at high risk of developing PTSD when confronted with COVID-19 outbreak and suggest the importance of psychological support during this humanitarian emergency.