Age-Related Mental Health Consequences of COVID-19: A Global Perspective

Purpose: The Société Internationale d’Urologie (SIU) conducted a survey to determine whether the pandemic has harmed the mental health of practicing urologists worldwide. Methods: Members of the Executive Board of the SIU designed a self-selected survey consisting of multiple-choice questions about the safety and mental health of urologists during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was disseminated by email to SIU members worldwide. Results: A total of 3448 SIU members from 109 countries responded to the survey, which sought to determine the extent of mental health symptoms, including depression, anxiety, insomnia, and distress—experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, 21% of urologists who responded reported that their mental health was very challenged, with 58% indicating increased stress levels, and 15% indicating greatly increased stress levels. Older urologists were less likely to report any of the negative mental health symptom queried (ie, delirium [rs = −0.06, P = 0.001], psychosis [rs = −0.04, P = 0.019], anxiety [rs = −0.09, P < 0.001], depression [rs = −0.08, P 0.20). Furthermore, 29% of urologists indicated they were afraid to go to work, while 53% reported being afraid to go home to their families after work. Conclusion: In this worldwide survey of practicing urologists, more than half of the participants reported an increase in insomnia, distress, and other psychological symptoms as they managed patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, although half of respondents did not experience any mental health symptoms. Institutions should provide psychological coping resources to all health care staff, not only for the front-line workers during the pandemic.