The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on professional life and well-being in German physicians: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

This study assessed perceptions of German physicians’ regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on work-related issues as well as mental and physical health. Almost three quarters of the physicians felt stressed by the increased quantity (69%) and quality (73%) of the work and felt physically (68%) or mentally exhausted (71%). Also about three-quarters of physicians reported the pandemic having a strong impact on family life. A higher proportion feared to infect their family more than being infected themselves (66% vs 50%). Mental health scores were significantly lower in physicians compared to the general population. In female physicians, these findings were even more pronounced. Stressful work conditions and feelings of isolation were the most important predictors for mental health scores (R² = 0.37), and also for motivation to work (R² = 0.20). Preventive measures to strengthen resilience and optimize work organization are warranted to alleviate the toll of the pandemic on physicians.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• male and female physicians
• mental and physical health

Acknowledgments

We kindly thank the Medical Association of Schleswig-Holstein for their generous support of the study.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Data availability statement

Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.