ArticleBMC psychology2023
Depressive and anxiety symptoms in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic among physicians in hospitals: results of the longitudinal, multicenter VOICE-EgePan survey over two years.
Article in BMC psychology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Suicide rates among physicians compared with the general population in studies from 20 countries: gender stratified systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2024Pooled it
- Article
- Long-COVID and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome: a preliminary comparison of neuropsychological performance.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2025Article
- Trajectories of Mental Distress and Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Healthcare Workers.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The impact of informal caregiving on the mental health of health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic-cross-sectional and longitudinal results from the VOICE study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Mental health of health care workers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic - A longitudinal cohort study.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Empathy fatigue among physicians and its influencing factors: a cross-sectional survey from Southwest China.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- [Workplace-related stress experience and mental health of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: risk and protective factors from the VOICE study].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2024Article
- Trait and situation-specific intolerance of uncertainty predict affective symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of affective disorders · 2024Article
- Self-Esteem and Occupational Factors as Predictors of the Incidence of Anxiety and Depression among Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Latvia.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Latent profile analysis of burnout, depression, and anxiety symptoms among Chinese medical staff with frontline anti-epidemic experience in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- 'We are all in the same boat': a qualitative cross-sectional analysis of COVID-19 pandemic imagery in scientific literature and its use for people working in the German healthcare sector.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
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10 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis longitudinal, multicenter web-based study explored the trajectories of depressive and anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic among physicians over two years.
methodsAt four measurement points between 4/2020 and 5/2022 depressive (Patient Health Questionnaire-2, PHQ-2) and anxiety symptoms (Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-2, GAD-2) among physicians in German hospitals were assessed. Time, gender and age effects were analyzed with linear mixed regression models. Comparisons with norm values for the German population during the COVID-19 pandemic were also performed and frequencies of probable depression and anxiety are reported.
resultsThe physicians (N = 340) showed a significant increase of depressive symptoms from T1 (M = 1.35, SD = 1.33) to T4 (M = 1.64, SD = 1.34) (p < .001) and of anxiety symptoms from T1 (M = 1.35, SD = 1.42) to T2 (M = 1.59, SD = 1.43) (p = .024). The main effect of gender was only significant for anxiety symptoms (p = .001): women demonstrated higher scores than men. A significant age class difference was observed only for depressive symptoms: the youngest age group (18-40 years) revealed higher values than the oldest group (> 50 years, p = .003). As compared to the general population, the physicians reported significantly elevated PHQ-2 (T1: M = 1.35, SD = 1.33; T2: M = 1.53, SD = 1.37; T3: M = 1.55, SD = 1.40; T4: M = 1.64, SD = 1.34) and GAD-2 scores (T1: M = 1.35, SD = 1.42; T2: M = 1.59, SD = 1.43; T3: M = 1.61, SD = 1.57; T4: M = 1.49, SD = 1.46) for all measurement points (all p < .001). The frequencies of probable depression (PHQ-2 ≥ 3) and anxiety (GAD-2 ≥ 3) were: 14.1% and 17.0% (T1), 16.5% and 21.9% (T2), 17.8% and 22.6% (T3) and 18.5% and 17.3% (T4), respectively.
conclusionsMental distress of physicians in German hospitals has increased in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic with gender and age-related differences. Possible causes should be explored and regular monitoring of mental health and prevention programmes for physicians should be established.
trial registrationThe study was registered on ClinicalTrials (DRKS-ID: DRKS00021268) on 9.4.2020.
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