Assessment of physicians’ resilience level during the COVID-19 pandemic

D Douillet (1, 2) , A Caillaud (1) , Jeremie Riou (3) , P Miroux (1) , E Thibaud (4) , M Noizet (5) , M Oberlin (6, 7) , M Léger (1) , R Mahieu (1, 8) , E Riquin (2, 1) , F Javaudin (9) , F Morin (1) , T Moumneh (1, 2) , D Savary (10, 1) , P-M Roy (1, 2) , O Hugli (11)

1 CHU Angers - Centre Hospitalier Universitaire d'Angers
2 MITOVASC - MitoVasc - Physiopathologie Cardiovasculaire et Mitochondriale
3 MINT - Micro et Nanomédecines Translationnelles
4 Hôpital pasteur [Colmar]
5 Centre Hospitalier de Mulhouse, site du Hasenrain (Mulhouse)
6 FMTS - Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle de Strasbourg
7 NanoRegMed - Nanomédecine Régénérative
8 CRCINA - Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie et Immunologie Nantes-Angers
9 CHU Nantes - Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nantes
10 Irset - Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail
11 CHUV - Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois = Lausanne University Hospital [Lausanne]

We aim to assess physicians’ level of resilience and define factors that improve or decrease the resilience level during the COVID-19 pandemic. Physicians from hospitals located in areas with different COVID-19 caseload levels, were invited to participate in a national e-survey between April and May 2020. Study participants were mainly emergency physicians, and anaesthesiologists, infectious disease consultants, and intensive care. The survey assessed participant’s characteristics, factors potentially associated with resilience, and resilience using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (RISC-25), with higher scores indicative of greater resilience. Factors associated with the resilience score were assessed using a multivariable linear regression. Of 451 responding physicians involved in the care of COVID-19 patients, 442 were included (98%). Age was 36.1 ± 10.3 years and 51.8% were male; 63% worked in the emergency department (n = 282), 10.4% in anesthesiology (n = 46), 9.9% in infectious disease department (n = 44), 4.8% in intensive care unit (n = 21) or other specialties (n = 49). The median RISC-25 score was at 69 (IQR 62-75). Factors associated with higher RISC scores were anesthesia as a specialty, parenthood, no previous history of anxiety or depression and nor increased anxiety. To conclude, this study is the first to characterize levels of resilience among physicians involved in COVID-19 unit. Our data points to certain protective characteristics and some detrimental factors, such as anxiety or depression, that could be amenable to remediating or preventing strategies to promote resilience and support caregivers in a pandemic.

Domaines: Psychiatrie et santé mentale; Santé publique et épidémiologie

D Douillet, A Caillaud, Jeremie Riou, P Miroux, E Thibaud, et al.. Assessment of physicians’ resilience level during the COVID-19 pandemic. Translational Psychiatry, 2021, 11 (1), pp.283. ⟨10.1038/s41398-021-01395-7⟩. ⟨hal-03253675⟩