Stress perceived among workers at high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infec-tion: a longitudinal study on a sample of community pharmacists

Background: Pharmacists are playing a crucial role in the COVID-19 pandemic scenario, performing frontline duties for the community and supporting the healthcare system. Our objective was to contribute with a study aimed at investigating stress and its correlates in this category of workers at high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Materials and methods: This is a longitudinal study among a sample of employees of the “Municipal Pharmaceutical Company” of L’Aquila (Italy). The data were collected through an anonymous, web-based and self-administrated questionnaire. Two independent surveys were conducted, from June to July 2020 and in January 2021.

Results: Two separate groups of respondents were involved: a total of 37 workers participated in the first survey (mean age 44.9±10.7 being 75.7% female) and 18 in the second one (mean age 45.9±9.2 being 94.4% female). The average total scores of the perceived stress (GHQ-12 score), increased significantly from 15.5 to 18.2 (p=0.0438), showing a moderate level of stress in the investigated category.

Conclusions: We observed a strong emotional exhaustion in the studied sample of pharmacists, with feelings of great risk and fear. A comprehensive assistance should be granted to support the well-being of healthcare workers, who provide an essential service despite the high risk of infection.