Mental health impact of COVID‐19 pandemic on therapists at an inpatient rehabilitation facility

Background Healthcare workers have faced extraordinary work‐related stress in the face of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech‐language pathology providers at inpatient rehabilitation facilities may represent a distinct at‐risk subgroup for work‐related stress during the pandemic due to the usual nature of their job duties, including close physical contact and extended treatment times. Objective To evaluate the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on work‐related stress and occurrence of depression and anxiety in physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech‐language pathologists during the first surge of COVID‐19 hospitalizations. Design Cross‐sectional survey. Setting Academic, freestanding inpatient rehabilitation facility. Participants Survey responses were collected from 38 therapists. Intervention A 26‐item electronic questionnaire containing a mix of multiple‐choice and open‐ended questions. Main Outcome Measures Positive screens for depression or anxiety as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire‐9 (PHQ‐9) and the General Anxiety Disorder 7‐item (GAD‐7) scale, respectively. Results Seven individuals (19%) scored at or above the clinically significant cutoff of 10 on each the PHQ‐9 and GAD‐7, corresponding to increased risk for depression and anxiety. Therapists younger than 30 years old had significantly higher GAD‐7 scores compared to therapists between 30‐39 years old (p