An Acute Stress Scale for Health Care Professionals Caring for Patients With COVID-19: Validation Study

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has affected the response capacity of the health care workforce, and health care professionals have been experiencing acute stress reactions since the beginning of the pandemic. In Spain, the first wave was particularly severe among the populat...

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Main Authors: Mira, Jose Joaquin, Cobos, Angel, Martínez García, Olga, Bueno Domínguez, María José, Astier-Peña, María Pilar, Pérez Pérez, Pastora, Carrillo, Irene, Guilabert, Mercedes, Perez-Jover, Virtudes, Fernandez, Cesar, Vicente, María Asuncion, Lahera-Martin, Matilde, Silvestre Busto, Carmen, Lorenzo Martínez, Susana, Sanchez Martinez, Ascension, Martin-Delgado, Jimmy, Mula, Aurora, Marco-Gomez, Barbara, Abad Bouzan, Cristina, Aibar-Remon, Carlos, Aranaz-Andres, Jesus
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2021-03-01
Series:JMIR Formative Research
Online Access:https://formative.jmir.org/2021/3/e27107
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spelling doaj-853ca18c8548400682a93fcc002f97e22021-04-02T20:47:07ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Formative Research2561-326X2021-03-0153e2710710.2196/27107An Acute Stress Scale for Health Care Professionals Caring for Patients With COVID-19: Validation StudyMira, Jose JoaquinCobos, AngelMartínez García, OlgaBueno Domínguez, María JoséAstier-Peña, María PilarPérez Pérez, PastoraCarrillo, IreneGuilabert, MercedesPerez-Jover, VirtudesFernandez, CesarVicente, María AsuncionLahera-Martin, MatildeSilvestre Busto, CarmenLorenzo Martínez, SusanaSanchez Martinez, AscensionMartin-Delgado, JimmyMula, AuroraMarco-Gomez, BarbaraAbad Bouzan, CristinaAibar-Remon, CarlosAranaz-Andres, Jesus BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has affected the response capacity of the health care workforce, and health care professionals have been experiencing acute stress reactions since the beginning of the pandemic. In Spain, the first wave was particularly severe among the population and health care professionals, many of whom were infected. These professionals required initial psychological supports that were gradual and in line with their conditions. ObjectiveIn the early days of the pandemic in Spain (March 2020), this study aimed to design and validate a scale to measure acute stress experienced by the health care workforce during the care of patients with COVID-19: the Self-applied Acute Stress Scale (EASE). MethodsItem development, scale development, and scale evaluation were considered. Qualitative research was conducted to produce the initial pool of items, assure their legibility, and assess the validity of the content. Internal consistency was calculated using Cronbach α and McDonald ω. Confirmatory factor analysis and the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test were used to assess construct validity. Linear regression was applied to assess criterion validity. Back-translation methodology was used to translate the scale into Portuguese and English. ResultsA total of 228 health professionals from the Spanish public health system responded to the 10 items of the EASE scale. Internal consistency was .87 (McDonald ω). Goodness-of-fit indices confirmed a two-factor structure, explaining 55% of the variance. As expected, the highest level of stress was found among professionals working in health services where a higher number of deaths from COVID-19 occurred (P<.05). ConclusionsThe EASE scale was shown to have adequate metric properties regarding consistency and construct validity. The EASE scale could be used to determine the levels of acute stress among the health care workforce in order to give them proportional support according to their needs during emergency conditions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.https://formative.jmir.org/2021/3/e27107
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Mira, Jose Joaquin
Cobos, Angel
Martínez García, Olga
Bueno Domínguez, María José
Astier-Peña, María Pilar
Pérez Pérez, Pastora
Carrillo, Irene
Guilabert, Mercedes
Perez-Jover, Virtudes
Fernandez, Cesar
Vicente, María Asuncion
Lahera-Martin, Matilde
Silvestre Busto, Carmen
Lorenzo Martínez, Susana
Sanchez Martinez, Ascension
Martin-Delgado, Jimmy
Mula, Aurora
Marco-Gomez, Barbara
Abad Bouzan, Cristina
Aibar-Remon, Carlos
Aranaz-Andres, Jesus
spellingShingle Mira, Jose Joaquin
Cobos, Angel
Martínez García, Olga
Bueno Domínguez, María José
Astier-Peña, María Pilar
Pérez Pérez, Pastora
Carrillo, Irene
Guilabert, Mercedes
Perez-Jover, Virtudes
Fernandez, Cesar
Vicente, María Asuncion
Lahera-Martin, Matilde
Silvestre Busto, Carmen
Lorenzo Martínez, Susana
Sanchez Martinez, Ascension
Martin-Delgado, Jimmy
Mula, Aurora
Marco-Gomez, Barbara
Abad Bouzan, Cristina
Aibar-Remon, Carlos
Aranaz-Andres, Jesus
An Acute Stress Scale for Health Care Professionals Caring for Patients With COVID-19: Validation Study
JMIR Formative Research
author_facet Mira, Jose Joaquin
Cobos, Angel
Martínez García, Olga
Bueno Domínguez, María José
Astier-Peña, María Pilar
Pérez Pérez, Pastora
Carrillo, Irene
Guilabert, Mercedes
Perez-Jover, Virtudes
Fernandez, Cesar
Vicente, María Asuncion
Lahera-Martin, Matilde
Silvestre Busto, Carmen
Lorenzo Martínez, Susana
Sanchez Martinez, Ascension
Martin-Delgado, Jimmy
Mula, Aurora
Marco-Gomez, Barbara
Abad Bouzan, Cristina
Aibar-Remon, Carlos
Aranaz-Andres, Jesus
author_sort Mira, Jose Joaquin
title An Acute Stress Scale for Health Care Professionals Caring for Patients With COVID-19: Validation Study
title_short An Acute Stress Scale for Health Care Professionals Caring for Patients With COVID-19: Validation Study
title_full An Acute Stress Scale for Health Care Professionals Caring for Patients With COVID-19: Validation Study
title_fullStr An Acute Stress Scale for Health Care Professionals Caring for Patients With COVID-19: Validation Study
title_full_unstemmed An Acute Stress Scale for Health Care Professionals Caring for Patients With COVID-19: Validation Study
title_sort acute stress scale for health care professionals caring for patients with covid-19: validation study
publisher JMIR Publications
series JMIR Formative Research
issn 2561-326X
publishDate 2021-03-01
description BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has affected the response capacity of the health care workforce, and health care professionals have been experiencing acute stress reactions since the beginning of the pandemic. In Spain, the first wave was particularly severe among the population and health care professionals, many of whom were infected. These professionals required initial psychological supports that were gradual and in line with their conditions. ObjectiveIn the early days of the pandemic in Spain (March 2020), this study aimed to design and validate a scale to measure acute stress experienced by the health care workforce during the care of patients with COVID-19: the Self-applied Acute Stress Scale (EASE). MethodsItem development, scale development, and scale evaluation were considered. Qualitative research was conducted to produce the initial pool of items, assure their legibility, and assess the validity of the content. Internal consistency was calculated using Cronbach α and McDonald ω. Confirmatory factor analysis and the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test were used to assess construct validity. Linear regression was applied to assess criterion validity. Back-translation methodology was used to translate the scale into Portuguese and English. ResultsA total of 228 health professionals from the Spanish public health system responded to the 10 items of the EASE scale. Internal consistency was .87 (McDonald ω). Goodness-of-fit indices confirmed a two-factor structure, explaining 55% of the variance. As expected, the highest level of stress was found among professionals working in health services where a higher number of deaths from COVID-19 occurred (P<.05). ConclusionsThe EASE scale was shown to have adequate metric properties regarding consistency and construct validity. The EASE scale could be used to determine the levels of acute stress among the health care workforce in order to give them proportional support according to their needs during emergency conditions, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
url https://formative.jmir.org/2021/3/e27107
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