Perception of the 2020 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic among medical professionals in Germany: results from a nationwide online survey

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented global challenge and implicates a wide range of burden on medical professionals. Here, we evaluated the perception of the COVID-19 pandemic among medical professionals in Germany.Methods: A total of n = 2827 medical professionals particip...

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Main Authors: Pia Paffenholz, Arne Peine, Martin Hellmich, Stella V. Paffenholz, Lukas Martin, Mark Luedde, Miriam Haverkamp, Christoph Roderburg, Gernot Marx, Axel Heidenreich, Christian Trautwein, Tom Luedde, Sven H. Loosen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2020-01-01
Series:Emerging Microbes and Infections
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22221751.2020.1785951
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author Pia Paffenholz
Arne Peine
Martin Hellmich
Stella V. Paffenholz
Lukas Martin
Mark Luedde
Miriam Haverkamp
Christoph Roderburg
Gernot Marx
Axel Heidenreich
Christian Trautwein
Tom Luedde
Sven H. Loosen
author_facet Pia Paffenholz
Arne Peine
Martin Hellmich
Stella V. Paffenholz
Lukas Martin
Mark Luedde
Miriam Haverkamp
Christoph Roderburg
Gernot Marx
Axel Heidenreich
Christian Trautwein
Tom Luedde
Sven H. Loosen
author_sort Pia Paffenholz
collection DOAJ
description Background: The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented global challenge and implicates a wide range of burden on medical professionals. Here, we evaluated the perception of the COVID-19 pandemic among medical professionals in Germany.Methods: A total of n = 2827 medical professionals participated in an online survey between 27 March and 11 April.Results: While most participants stated that Germany was well prepared and rated the measures taken by their employer as positive, subgroup analyses revealed decisive differences. The preventive measures were rated significantly worse by nurses compared to doctors (p < 0.001) and by participants from ambulatory healthcare centres compared to participants from maximum-care hospitals (p < 0.001). Importantly, shortage of protective medical equipment was reported more commonly in the ambulatory sector (p < 0.001) and in East German federal states (p = 0.004). Moreover, the majority of health care professionals (72.4%) reported significant restrictions of daily work routine. Finally, over 60% of medical professionals had concerns regarding their own health, which were more pronounced among female participants (p = 0.024).Conclusion: This survey may indicate starting points on how medical professionals could be supported in carrying out their important activities during the ongoing and future healthcare challenges.
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spelling doaj-art-daaae1d2221046c282d26294174aebc72025-08-20T02:12:20ZengTaylor & Francis GroupEmerging Microbes and Infections2222-17512020-01-01911590159910.1080/22221751.2020.1785951Perception of the 2020 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic among medical professionals in Germany: results from a nationwide online surveyPia Paffenholz0Arne Peine1Martin Hellmich2Stella V. Paffenholz3Lukas Martin4Mark Luedde5Miriam Haverkamp6Christoph Roderburg7Gernot Marx8Axel Heidenreich9Christian Trautwein10Tom Luedde11Sven H. Loosen12Department of Urology, Uro-Oncology, Robot Assisted and Reconstructive Urologic Surgery, University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, GermanyDepartment of Intensive Care Medicine and Intermediate Care, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, GermanyFaculty of Medicine, Institute for Medical Statistics and Computational Biology (IMSB), University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, GermanyDepartment of Cancer Biology and Genetics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USADepartment of Intensive Care Medicine and Intermediate Care, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, GermanyKGP Bremerhaven, Bremerhaven, GermanyDepartment of Infection Control and Infectious Diseases, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Gastroenterology/Hepatology, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Intensive Care Medicine and Intermediate Care, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Urology, Uro-Oncology, Robot Assisted and Reconstructive Urologic Surgery, University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, GermanyDepartment of Medicine III, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, GermanyDivision of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Hepatobiliary Oncology, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Medicine III, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, GermanyBackground: The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented global challenge and implicates a wide range of burden on medical professionals. Here, we evaluated the perception of the COVID-19 pandemic among medical professionals in Germany.Methods: A total of n = 2827 medical professionals participated in an online survey between 27 March and 11 April.Results: While most participants stated that Germany was well prepared and rated the measures taken by their employer as positive, subgroup analyses revealed decisive differences. The preventive measures were rated significantly worse by nurses compared to doctors (p < 0.001) and by participants from ambulatory healthcare centres compared to participants from maximum-care hospitals (p < 0.001). Importantly, shortage of protective medical equipment was reported more commonly in the ambulatory sector (p < 0.001) and in East German federal states (p = 0.004). Moreover, the majority of health care professionals (72.4%) reported significant restrictions of daily work routine. Finally, over 60% of medical professionals had concerns regarding their own health, which were more pronounced among female participants (p = 0.024).Conclusion: This survey may indicate starting points on how medical professionals could be supported in carrying out their important activities during the ongoing and future healthcare challenges.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22221751.2020.1785951COVID-19healthcare workerspersonal protective equipmentPPEnursesburden
spellingShingle Pia Paffenholz
Arne Peine
Martin Hellmich
Stella V. Paffenholz
Lukas Martin
Mark Luedde
Miriam Haverkamp
Christoph Roderburg
Gernot Marx
Axel Heidenreich
Christian Trautwein
Tom Luedde
Sven H. Loosen
Perception of the 2020 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic among medical professionals in Germany: results from a nationwide online survey
Emerging Microbes and Infections
COVID-19
healthcare workers
personal protective equipment
PPE
nurses
burden
title Perception of the 2020 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic among medical professionals in Germany: results from a nationwide online survey
title_full Perception of the 2020 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic among medical professionals in Germany: results from a nationwide online survey
title_fullStr Perception of the 2020 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic among medical professionals in Germany: results from a nationwide online survey
title_full_unstemmed Perception of the 2020 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic among medical professionals in Germany: results from a nationwide online survey
title_short Perception of the 2020 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic among medical professionals in Germany: results from a nationwide online survey
title_sort perception of the 2020 sars cov 2 pandemic among medical professionals in germany results from a nationwide online survey
topic COVID-19
healthcare workers
personal protective equipment
PPE
nurses
burden
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/22221751.2020.1785951
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