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Mental health
Protocol
COVID-19 emergency response assessment study: a prospective longitudinal survey of frontline doctors in the UK and Ireland: study protocol
  1. Tom Roberts1,2,
  2. Jo Daniels3,
  3. William Hulme4,
  4. Daniel Horner1,5,
  5. Mark David Lyttle2,6,
  6. Katie Samuel7,
  7. Blair Graham8,9,
  8. Robert Hirst7,
  9. Charles Reynard10,
  10. Michael Barrett11,
  11. Edward Carlton1,12
  1. 1Trainee Emergency Research Network, The Royal College of Emergency Medicine, London, UK
  2. 2Emergency Department, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol, UK
  3. 3Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, Somerset, UK
  4. 4Statistical Consultant, Oxford, UK
  5. 5Department of Intensive Care, Salford Royal Hospitals NHS Trust, Salford, UK
  6. 6Faculty of Health and Applied Science, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK
  7. 7Department of Anaesthesia, North Bristol NHS Trust, Westbury on Trym, Bristol, UK
  8. 8Faculty of Health, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon, UK
  9. 9Emergency Department, Plymouth Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Plymouth, UK
  10. 10Department of Cardviovascular Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
  11. 11School of Medicine, Women's and Children's Health, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
  12. 12Emergency Department, North Bristol NHS Trust, Westbury on Trym, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Tom Roberts; tomkieranroberts{at}gmail.com

Abstract

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic is putting an unprecedented strain on healthcare systems globally. The psychological impact on frontline doctors of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic is currently unknown. This longitudinal professional survey aims to understand the evolving and cumulative effects of working during the COVID-19 outbreak on the psychological well-being of doctors working in emergency departments (ED), intensive care units (ICU) and anaesthetics during the pandemic.

Methods and analysis This study is a longitudinal questionnaire-based study with three predefined time points spanning the acceleration, peak and deceleration phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The primary outcomes are psychological distress and post-trauma stress as measured by the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) and Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R). Data related to personal and professional characteristics will also be collected. Questionnaires will be administered prospectively to all doctors working in ED, ICU and anaesthetics in the UK and Ireland via existing research networks during the sampling period. Data from the questionnaires will be analysed to assess the prevalence and degree of psychological distress and trauma, and the nature of the relationship between personal and professional characteristics and the primary outcomes. Data will be described, analysed and disseminated at each time point; however, the primary endpoint will be psychological distress and trauma at the final time point.

Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval was obtained from the University of Bath, UK (ref: 4421), and Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin, Ethics Committee. Regulatory approval from the Health Regulation Authority (UK), Health and Care Research Wales (IRAS: 281944).

This study is limited by the fact that it focuses on doctors only and is survey based without further qualitative interviews of participants. It is expected this study will provide clear evidence of the psychological impact of COVID-19 on doctors and will allow present and future planning to mitigate against any psychological impact.

Trial registration number ISRCTN10666798.

  • accident & emergency medicine
  • anaesthetics
  • intensive & critical care
  • psychiatry
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-039851

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter @mdlyttle, @katie_samuel_, @PEMDublin, @eddcarlton

    • Contributors TR conceived the idea for the study. TR,EC, JD, MDL and BG were responsible for the initial study design, which was refined with the help of Katie Samuel KS, CR, RH, MB and WH. Expert advice on psychological assessment scores was provided by JD. WH provided the statistical plan. TR led the dissemination of the study in UK Adult Emergency Departments, MDL led the dissemination of the study in UK and Ireland Paediatric Emergency Departments, KS led the dissemination of the study in UK Anaesthetic and ICU Departments, MB led the dissemination of the study in Ireland Emergency Departments, ICUs and Anaesthetic Departments. TR coordinated study setup, finalisation of the study surveys and finalisations of study protocols. All authors contributed to the final study design and protocol development, critically revised successive drafts of the manuscript and approved the final version. The study management group is responsible for the conduct of the study.

    • Funding The study has been awarded a competitive grant by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (G/2020/1). The survey platform is provided courtesy of the University of Bristol. The chief investigator is directly funded as a research fellow by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. The GHQ-12 is being used under licence from GL assessments; the fee for use of this instrument within all three surveys has been waived. Dr Carlton is a National Institute for Health Research Advanced Fellow.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.