ABSTRACT
Aim: This systematic review (PROSPERO Registration number: CRD42022363505) explores the nature and prevalence of persistent psychophysiological complications among healthcare workers (HCWs) and COVID-19-recovered patients.
Method: The authors explored MEDLINE, PubMed, PsychInfo, ProQuest, Scopus, APA PsychsArticles, and Cochrane Controlled Trials Register between 30 September and 22 October 2022, for longitudinal, cross-sectional, cohort, and case-control studies published in English between 2019 and 2022, focusing on prevalence and types of psychophysiological complications among HCWs and recovered COVID-19 patients. Studies with patients/HCWs with pre-diagnosed or current physical/mental health conditions, systematic reviews/meta-analyses, interventions, and randomised-controlled trials were excluded. The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool was utilised to assess the risk of bias, and the studies included showed an overall low risk of bias. Identified psychophysiological complications were summarised in tabular format and compared. The pooled prevalence of complications was also calculated.
Results: Twenty-eight studies (nine with patients and 19 with HCW samples) were included. Recovered patients reported significant complications of fatigue (34.17%), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)/post-traumatic stress (PTS) (26.74%), anxiety (23.70%), and depression (15.84%). On the contrary, HCWs reported burnout (61.14%), anxiety (44.19%), depression (42.30%), PTSD/PTS (35.74%), insomnia (32.98%), and stress (6.83%). Significantly, more HCWs reported anxiety, depression, and PTSD than patients.
Conclusion: These findings suggest the distinct nature of complications among the two groups. However, most studies evaluated complications based on self-report, and pooled prevalence could only be calculated from studies where data was available, which limits the generalisability of findings. Findings indicate that multidisciplinary services should be equipped and trained to manage these distinctive psychophysiological consequences of COVID-19 among patients and HCWs.
