Impact of coronavirus syndromes on physical and mental health of health care workers: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Health care workers (HCW) are at high risk of developing physical/mental health outcomes related to coronavirus syndromes. Nature and frequency of these outcomes are undetermined. Methods: PRISMA/MOOSE-compliant (PROSPERO-CRD42020180205) systematic review of Web of Science/grey literature until 15th April 2020, to identify studies reporting physical/mental health outcomes in HCW infected/exposed to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome -SARS-, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome -MERS-, Novel coronavirus -COVID-19-. Proportion random effect meta-analyses, I 2 statistic, quality assessment and sensitivity analysis. Results: 115 articles were included (n = 60,458 HCW, age 36.1+/-7.1, 77.1% female). Physical health outcomes: 75.9% HCW infected by SARS/MERS/COVID-19 reported fever (95%CI = 65.9-83.7%, k = 12, n = 949), 47.9% cough (95%CI=39.2-56.8%, k = 14, n = 970), 43.6% myalgias (95%CI=31.9-56.0%, k = 13, n=898), 42.3% chills (95%CI = 20.2-67.9%, k = 7, n = 716), 41.2% fatigue (95%CI = 18.2-68.8%, k = 6, n = 386), 34.6% headaches (95%CI = 23.1-48.2%, k = 11, n = 893), 31.2% dyspnoea (95%CI = 23.2-40.5%, k = 12, n = 1003), 25.3% sore throat (95%CI=18.8-33.2%, k = 8, n = 747), 22.2% nausea/vomiting (95%CI = 14.9-31.8%, k = 6, n = 662), 18.8% diarrhoea (95%CI = 11.9-28.4%, k = 9, n = 824). Mental health outcomes: 62.5% HCW exposed to SARS/MERS/COVID-19 reported general health concerns (95%CI = 57.0-67,8%, k = 2, n = 2254), 43.7% fear (95%CI=33.9-54.0%, k = 4, n = 584), 37.9% insomnia (95%CI = 30.9-45.5%, k = 6, n = 5067), 37.8% psychological distress (95%CI = 28.4-48.2%, k = 15, n = 24,346), 34.4% burnout (95%CI = 19.3-53.5%, k = 3, n = 1337), 29.0% anxiety features (95%CI=14.2-50.3%, k = 6, n = 9191), 26.3% depressive symptoms (95%CI = 12.5-47.1%, k = 8, n = 9893), 20.7% post-traumatic stress disorder features (95%CI = 13.2-31%, k = 11, n = 3826), 16.1% somatisation (95%CI=0.2-96.0%, k = 2, n = 2184), 14.0% stigmatisation feelings (95%CI = 6.4-28.1%, k = 2, n = 411). Limitations: Limited amount of evidence for some outcomes and suboptimal design in several studies included. Conclusions: SARS/MERS/COVID-19 have a substantial impact on the physical and mental health of HCW, which should become a priority for public health strategies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)