Examining the mental health adversity among healthcare providers during the two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic: results from a cross-sectional, survey-based study

ObjectivesThe current global health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected the whole population, but healthcare workers are particularly exposed to high levels of physical and mental stress. This enormous burden requires both the continuous monitoring of their health conditions and research into various protective factors.DesignCross-sectional surveys.Setting and participantsSelf-administered questionnaires were constructed assessing COVID-19-related worries of health workers in Hungary. The surveys were conducted during two consecutive waves of the COVID-19 pandemic (N-first wave=376, N-second wave=406), between 17 July 2020 and 31 December 2020.Primary and secondary outcome measuresCOVID-19-related worry, well-being and distress levels of healthcare workers. We also tested whether psychological resilience mediates the association of worry with well-being and distress. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed.ResultsThe results indicated that healthcare workers had high levels of worry and distress in both pandemic waves. When comparing the two waves, enhanced levels of worry (Wald’s χ2=4.36, p=0.04) and distress (Wald’s χ2=25.18, p