Psychological approach to COVID-19: A narrative review of the Latin American experience

COVID-19 disease has not only led to a collapse of the health system and the death of thousands of people but is also having an impact on the health of those who are providing care for those infected In this context, the aim of this research was to determine prevalences of depression, anxiety, insomnia, distress and compassionate fatigue, as well as factors related to the presence of symptoms associated with these disorders in healthcare workers For this, 126 health professionals from Paraguay were surveyed online, of which 83% were women, with an average age in the total sample of 32 years The questionnaires PHQ-9 for depression, GAD-7 for anxiety, ISI-7 for insomnia, IES-R for distress and the module of compassion fatigue of ProQOL - CSF-vIV were applied It was found that the percentages of participants who reported symptoms classified as moderate and severe were 32 2% for depression, 41 3% for anxiety, 27 8% for insomnia, 38 9% for distress and 64 3% for compassion fatigue In addition, women and younger people were at greater risk for symptoms The data provide evidence for the need to establish prevention or intervention strategies to cope with mental health problems in health professionals (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved) Abstract (Spanish) La enfermedad por COVID-19 no solo ha provocado un colapso del sistema sanitario y la muerte de miles de personas, sino que esta repercutiendo en la salud de las personas que estan brindando atencion a los infectados En este marco, el objetivo de esta investigacion fue determinar prevalencias de depresion, ansiedad, insomnio, distres y fatiga por compasion, asi como factores relacionados a la presencia de sintomatologia asociada a estos trastornos en profesionales de los equipos de salud Para esto, se encuesto en formato online a 126 profesionales sanitarios del Paraguay, de los cuales el 83% son mujeres, con una edad promedio en la muestra total de 32 anos Se aplicaron los cuestionarios PHQ-9 para depresion, GAD- 7 para ansiedad, ISI-7 para insomnio, IES-R para distres y el modulo de fatiga por compasion del ProQOL - CSF-vIV Se encuentra que los porcentajes de participantes que reportaron sintomas clasificables como moderados y severos fueron de un 32 2% para depresion, 41 3% en ansiedad, 27 8% en insomnio, 38 9% en distres y un 64 3% en fatiga por compasion Adicionalmente las mujeres y los de menor edad presentaron un riesgo mayor de presentar sintomas Los datos aportan evidencia a la necesidad de establecer estrategias de prevencion o intervencion para abordar los problemas de salud mental en los profesionales de la salud (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)