The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in an intensive care unit (ICU): Psychiatric symptoms in healthcare professionals

INTRODUCTION: During the COVID-19 pandemic period, the structure of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) activities changed fast. It was observed that the mental and physical health of the frontline workers reached levels of extreme clinical and psychological concern. OBJECTIVE: Understand the impact that COVID-19 is having on the front-line clinical team in the ICU environment, as well as reveal what proposals are being made to mitigate the clinical and psychological impacts that this group experiences. METHOD: A systematic review was made following the PRISMA protocol (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis). We included any type of study on health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, with results about their mental health. We were, therefore, interested in quantitative studies examining the prevalence of problems and effects of interventions, as well as qualitative studies examining experiences. We had no restrictions related to study design, methodological quality or language. RESULTS: Twenty-one studies reported on the urgent need for interventions to prevent or reduce mental health problems caused by COVID-19 among health professionals in ICU. Eleven studies demonstrated possibilities for interventions involving organizational adjustments in the ICU, particularly linked to emotional conflicts in the fight against COVID-19. CONCLUSION: The disproportion between the need for technological supplies of intensive care medicine and their scarcity promotes, among many factors, high rates of psychological distress. Anxiety, irritability, insomnia, fear and anguish were observed during the pandemic, probably related to extremely high workloads and the lack of personal protective equipment.