Abstract

The present study sought to examine mental health problems among nursing home workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, to investigate COVID-19–related fears, and to identify prepandemic factors associated with current mental health issues. Setting and Participants All employees among 6 nursing homes in southwestern France (N = 455) were solicited between November, 2020 and June, 2021. The survey instrument was developed within the World Mental Health consortium to screen for COVID-related fears, probable generalized anxiety, panic attacks, depression, posttraumatic stress and substance use disorders in the past 30 days. The survey was completed by 127 workers (89.0% female, mean age = 43.42 years, SD = 11.29), yielding a 28.5% response rate. Overall, 48.03% reported experiencing fear of infecting others at least most of the time. One in 8 (14.96%) indicated that close others feared being infected by them. One-third of the sample (34.65%) met criteria for at least 1 probable current mental disorder. Panic attacks (22.05%) were the most frequently reported mental health problem, followed by depression (16.54%). In multivariate analyses, the only factor associated with having a current probable mental disorder was the presence of any prepandemic mental health problem (adjusted odds ratio 4.76, 95% CI 2.08-10.89.