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Banal, Mariah Allyson

University of British Columbia

Healthcare workers (HCWs) have been shown to be impacted physically and mentally by the COVID-19 pandemic, attributed to stress and an increased workload. However, there is currently a gap in the literature regarding examination of mental disorders occurring in the workplace among HCWs. This study aims to address this gap by analyzing mental disorders claims that were accepted for workers’ compensation before and during the pandemic among HCWs and non-HCWs. Cases of mental disorder claims occurring among HCWs and non-HCWs were identified from accepted time-loss claims from the province of British Columbia’s workers’ compensation board (WorkSafeBC). Incidence rates were calculated using monthly estimates of the BC working population from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey as the denominator. The periods assessed were January 2017 – December 2021. Changes in the incidence of mental disorder claims between healthcare workers and non-healthcare workers before and during the pandemic were estimated using controlled interrupted time series analysis. The results from the controlled interrupted time series analysis revealed no change in mental disorders claims among HCWs during the pandemic while a level change occurred for non-HCWs. This phenomenon cannot be attributed to a single factor. Potential explanations include the provincial healthcare system’s response to the pandemic, labour dynamics, as well as how WorkSafeBC addresses mental disorder needs among HCWs. Further research is needed to understand the long-term effects of mental disorders occurring in the HCWs population beyond the pandemic.

Text

2024-03-07

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/87539

Population and Public Health

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/