The Covid-19 HEalth caRe wOrkErS (HEROES) Study

Summary

Since December 2019 the world has been shaken with an enormous global threat: the Covid-19 pandemic. This new kind of coronavirus is generating an unprecedented impact both on the general population and on the healthcare systems in most countries. Health services are trying to expand their capacity to respond to the pandemic, taking actions such as increasing the number of beds; acquiring necessary equipment to provide intensive therapy (ventilators), and calling retired health professionals and health students so they can assist the overwhelmed health care workforce. Unfortunately, these organizational changes at health facilities, along with the fears and concerns of becoming ill with the virus or infecting their families, put an enormous emotional burden on workers in health services which may lead to negative outcomes on mental health in this population.

Recent cross-sectional studies in China indicate that health service workers exposed to people with Covid-19 reported higher rates of depressive and anxious symptoms. This negative impact on mental health among health workers in China has also been informally reported in other countries where the Covid-19 pandemic has been devastating in its effects (such as Spain and Italy), as well as in countries where the pandemic is becoming a growing public health problem. This is particularly relevant in regions with fewer resources (Latin America, North Africa), where there are limited means and the response from the health system is usually insufficient. Moreover, it is necessary to study these negative effects longitudinally considering that some effects will appear over time (post-traumatic stress).

The COVID-19 HEalth caRe wOrkErS (HEROES) study is a large, bottom-up, South-North initiative aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of health care workers (HCWs). HEROES encompasses a wide variety of academic institutions in 19 LMICs and 8 HICs, in partnership with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and with support from the World Health Organization (WHO). The HEROES study is led by Dr. Rubén Alvarado at University of Chile, and Dr. Ezra Susser and Franco Mascayano at Columbia U Mailman School of Public Health.

Conditions

• Covid-19
• Mental Health Disorder
• Stress Disorder
• Anxiety
• Depression
• SARS-CoV-2

Interventions

OTHER

Exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 and its consequences

This is an observational design. Participants are exposed to the SARS-CoV-2, the Covid-19 pandemic, and/or its consequences

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Columbia University

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Chile

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Rubén Alvarado, PhD · University of Chile [Universidad de Chile]

• Ezra Susser, MD DrPH · Columbia University

• Franco Mascayano, MPH · Columbia Universty

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-04-26

Primary Completion

2021-12-31

Completion

2021-12-31

Countries

• United States
• Argentina
• Armenia
• Australia
• Bolivia
• Chile
• Costa Rica
• Czechia
• Germany
• Guatemala
• Italy
• Lebanon
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• Nigeria
• Puerto Rico
• Saudi Arabia
• Spain
• Tunisia
• Turkey (Türkiye)
• Venezuela

Study Locations