Perception of Dying, Suicidal Ideation and other Associated Factors among Recently Graduated Physicians who will Care for COVID-19 Cases in Peruvian Hospitals

Abstract

Introduction: One of the problems for the care of patients with COVID-19 is the scarcity of trained and empowered human resources; in fact, in some countries, such recently graduated personnel has been seen to be called upon.

Objective: To characterize the perception of dying, suicidal ideation and other associated factors among recently graduated physicians who will care for cases with COVID-19 in Peruvian hospitals.

Methods: An analytical and cross-sectional research was carried out, surveying 180 recently graduated physicians in Peru: 60 from the capital city and 120 from the provinces. A test of fatalistic perception in case of contracting COVID-19 was applied to them; this was crossed with their intention to care for patients positive for this disease and other associated factors, using analytical statistics for all of them.

Results: In the multivariate analysis, those who had a better perception of caring for patients were those who knew that, if they were infected, they would not die (RPa: 1.27; 95% CI: 1.15-1.41; p < 0.001) and men (RPa: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.01-1.29; p = 0.039). In contrast, there was a lower frequency of acceptance to care for patients who thought that they might commit suicide (RPa: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.87-0.89; p < 0.001), among those who practiced any religion (RPa: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.81-0.95; p = 0.002) or among those who had insurance granted by the Peruvian state (RPa: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.80-0.96; p = 0.005); all of them adjusted according to four variables.

Conclusion: Physicians who will be in the fight against COVID-19 need to be comprehensively evaluated, since they and other professionals could have weakened mental health or inadequate thinking.