Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on psychological well-being of firefighters.
Covid-19
Firefighters
First responders
Physical activity
Psychological well-being
Restrictive measures
Journal
Safety and health at work
ISSN: 2093-7911
Titre abrégé: Saf Health Work
Pays: Korea (South)
ID NLM: 101542940
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
15 Jun 2023
15 Jun 2023
Historique:
received:
01
12
2022
revised:
26
04
2023
accepted:
10
06
2023
medline:
26
6
2023
pubmed:
26
6
2023
entrez:
26
6
2023
Statut:
aheadofprint
Résumé
Covid-19 pandemic represented a unique stressful event that affected the physical health and the psychological well-being (PWB) of individuals and communities. Monitoring PWB is essential to clarify the burden on mental health effects but also to define targeted psychological-supporting measures. This cross-sectional study evaluated the PWB of Italian firefighters during the pandemic. Firefighters recruited during the pandemic period filled out a self-administered questionnaire the Psychological General Well-Being Index during the health surveillance medical examination. This tool is usually used to assess the global PWB and explores six subdomains: anxiety, depressed mood, positive well-being, self-control, general health, and vitality. The influencing role of age, gender, working activities, Covid-19 and pandemic restrictive measures was also explored. A total of 742 firefighters completed the survey. The aggregate median PWB global score was in the "no distress" range (94.3±10.3) resulting higher than that observed in studies conducted using the same tool in the Italian general population during the same pandemic period. Similar findings were observed in the specific subdomains thus suggesting that investigated population was in good PWB condition. Interestingly, significantly better outcomes were detected in the younger firefighters. Our data showed a satisfactory PWB situation in firefighters that could be related to different professional factors such as work organization, mental and physical training. In particular, our results would suggest the hypothesis that in firefighters, the maintaining of a minimum/moderate level of physical activity (consisting of even just going to work) might had a profoundly positive impact on psychological health and well-being.
Sections du résumé
Background
UNASSIGNED
Covid-19 pandemic represented a unique stressful event that affected the physical health and the psychological well-being (PWB) of individuals and communities. Monitoring PWB is essential to clarify the burden on mental health effects but also to define targeted psychological-supporting measures. This cross-sectional study evaluated the PWB of Italian firefighters during the pandemic.
Methods
UNASSIGNED
Firefighters recruited during the pandemic period filled out a self-administered questionnaire the Psychological General Well-Being Index during the health surveillance medical examination. This tool is usually used to assess the global PWB and explores six subdomains: anxiety, depressed mood, positive well-being, self-control, general health, and vitality. The influencing role of age, gender, working activities, Covid-19 and pandemic restrictive measures was also explored.
Results
UNASSIGNED
A total of 742 firefighters completed the survey. The aggregate median PWB global score was in the "no distress" range (94.3±10.3) resulting higher than that observed in studies conducted using the same tool in the Italian general population during the same pandemic period. Similar findings were observed in the specific subdomains thus suggesting that investigated population was in good PWB condition. Interestingly, significantly better outcomes were detected in the younger firefighters.
Conclusion
UNASSIGNED
Our data showed a satisfactory PWB situation in firefighters that could be related to different professional factors such as work organization, mental and physical training. In particular, our results would suggest the hypothesis that in firefighters, the maintaining of a minimum/moderate level of physical activity (consisting of even just going to work) might had a profoundly positive impact on psychological health and well-being.
Identifiants
pubmed: 37361372
doi: 10.1016/j.shaw.2023.06.002
pii: S2093-7911(23)00036-7
pmc: PMC10268815
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Informations de copyright
© 2023 Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, Published by Elsevier Korea LLC.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Francesco Vassallo receives a salary from Regional Direction of Campania Firefighters where he is employed as a medical officer. The other authors have no financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
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