posted on 2023-09-25, 10:20authored byM McBride, CA Martin, L Teece, P Irizar, M Batson, S Lagrata, P Papineni, J Nazareth, D Pan, A Leary, K Woolf, M Pareek, UK-REACH Study Collaborative Group
Background Exploration of the association between financial concerns and depression in UK healthcare workers (HCWs) is paramount given the current 'cost of living crisis', ongoing strike action and recruitment/retention problems in the National Health Service. Aims To assess the impact of financial concerns on the risk of depression in HCWs, how these concerns have changed over time and what factors might predict financial concerns. Method We used longitudinal survey data from a UK-wide cohort of HCWs to determine whether financial concerns at baseline (December 2020 to March 2021) were associated with depression (measured with the Public Health Questionnaire-2) at follow-up (June to October 2022). We used logistic regression to examine the association between financial concerns and depression, and ordinal logistic regression to establish predictors of developing financial concerns. Results A total of 3521 HCWs were included. Those concerned about their financial situation at baseline had higher odds of developing depressive symptoms at follow-up. Financial concerns increased in 43.8% of HCWs and decreased in 9%. Those in nursing, midwifery and other nursing roles had over twice the odds of developing financial concerns compared with those in medical roles. Conclusions Financial concerns are increasing in prevalence and predict the later development of depressive symptoms in UK HCWs. Those in nursing, midwifery and other allied nursing roles may have been disproportionately affected. Our results are concerning given the potential effects on sickness absence and staff retention. Policy makers should act to alleviate financial concerns to reduce the impact this may have on a discontent workforce plagued by understaffing.
Funding
UK-REACH: United Kingdom Research Study into Ethnicity And COVID-19 outcomes in Healthcare workers
NIHR Career Development Fellowship (identifier CDF-2017-10-008)
NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and NIHR Applied Research Collaboration East Midlands (ARC EM)
NIHR Development and Skills Enhancement Award (number NIHR302865)
This work is carried out with the support of BREATHE, the Health Data Research Hub for Respiratory Health (funding ID: MC_PC_19004), in partnership with SAIL Databank
History
Author affiliation
Department of Respiratory Sciences, University of Leicester