Mental Health and Emotional Disorders During the COVID-19 Pandemics: Prevalence and Extent in PICU Staff.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of burnout, anxiety and depression symptoms, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in PICU workers in Brazil during the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. To compare the results of subgroups stratified by age, gender, professional category, health system, and previous mental health disorders. DESIGN: Multicenter, cross-sectional study using an electronic survey. SETTING: Twenty-nine public and private Brazilian PICUs. SUBJECTS: Multidisciplinary PICU workers. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Self-reported questionnaires were used to measure burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory), anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), and PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition [PCL-5]) in 1,084 respondents. Subjects were mainly young (37.1 ± 8.4 yr old) and females (85%), with a median workload of 50 hours per week. The prevalence of anxiety and depression was 33% and 19%, respectively, whereas PTSD was 13%. The overall median burnout scores were high in the emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment dimensions (16 [interquartile range (IQR), 8-24] and 40 [IQR, 33-44], respectively) whereas low in the depersonalization one (2 [IQR, 0-5]), suggesting a profile of overextended professionals, with a burnout prevalence of 24%. Professionals reporting prior mental health disorders had higher prevalence of burnout (30% vs 22%; p = 0.02), anxiety (51% vs 29%; p < 0.001), and depression symptoms (32.5% vs 15%; p < 0.001), with superior PCL-5 scores for PTSD ( p < 0.001). Public hospital workers presented more burnout (29% vs 18.6%, p < 0.001) and more PTSD levels (14.8% vs 10%, p = 0.03). Younger professionals were also more burned out ( p < 0.05 in all three dimensions). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of mental health disorders in Brazilian PICU workers during the first 2020 peak of COVID-19 was as high as those described in adult ICU workers. Some subgroups, particularly those reporting previous mental disorders and younger professionals, should receive special attention to prevent future crises.

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Brazil: a multicenter, prospective cohort study

Abstract Objective To describe the clinical, laboratory, and radiological characteristics, as well as the outcomes of children with MIS-C. Method Multicenter, prospective cohort study, conducted in 17 pediatric intensive care units in five states in Brazil, from March to July 2020. Patients from 1 month to 19 years who met the MIS-C diagnostic criteria were included consecutively. Results Fifty-six patients were included, with the following conditions: Kawasaki-like disease (n = 26), incomplete Kawasaki disease (n = 16), acute cardiac dysfunction (n = 10), toxic shock syndrome (n = 3), and macrophage activation syndrome (n = 1). Median age was 6.2 years (IQR 2.4−10.3), 70% were boys, 59% were non-whites, 20% had comorbidities, 48% reported a contact with COVID-19 cases, and 55% had a recent SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by RT-PCR and/or serology. Gastrointestinal symptoms were present in 71%, shock symptoms in 59%, and severe respiratory symptoms in less than 20%. -Dimer was increased in 80% and cardiac dysfunction markers in more than 75%. Treatment included immunoglobulin (89%); corticosteroids, antibiotics, and enoxaparin in about 50%; and oseltamivir and antifungal therapy in less than 10%. Only 11% needed invasive mechanical ventilation, with a median duration of five days (IQR 5-6.5). The median length of PICU stay was six days (IQR 5-11), and one death occurred (1.8%). Conclusions Most characteristics of the present MIS-C patients were similar to that of other cohorts. The present results may contribute to a broader understanding of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and its short-term consequences. Long-term multidisciplinary follow-up is needed, since it is not known whether these patients will have chronic cardiac impairment or other sequelae.

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Brazil: a multicenter, prospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical, laboratory, and radiological characteristics, as well as the outcomes of children with MIS-C. METHOD: Multicenter, prospective cohort study, conducted in 17 pediatric intensive care units in five states in Brazil, from March to July 2020. Patients from 1 month to 19 years who met the MIS-C diagnostic criteria were included consecutively. RESULTS: Fifty-six patients were included, with the following conditions: Kawasaki-like disease (n = 26), incomplete Kawasaki disease (n = 16), acute cardiac dysfunction (n = 10), toxic shock syndrome (n = 3), and macrophage activation syndrome (n = 1). Median age was 6.2 years (IQR 2.4-10.3), 70% were boys, 59% were non-whites, 20% had comorbidities, 48% reported a contact with COVID-19 cases, and 55% had a recent SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed by RT-PCR and/or serology. Gastrointestinal symptoms were present in 71%, shock symptoms in 59%, and severe respiratory symptoms in less than 20%. d-Dimer was increased in 80% and cardiac dysfunction markers in more than 75%. Treatment included immunoglobulin (89%); corticosteroids, antibiotics, and enoxaparin in about 50%; and oseltamivir and antifungal therapy in less than 10%. Only 11% needed invasive mechanical ventilation, with a median duration of five days (IQR 5-6.5). The median length of PICU stay was six days (IQR 5-11), and one death occurred (1.8%). CONCLUSIONS: Most characteristics of the present MIS-C patients were similar to that of other cohorts. The present results may contribute to a broader understanding of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children and its short-term consequences. Long-term multidisciplinary follow-up is needed, since it is not known whether these patients will have chronic cardiac impairment or other sequelae.