Abstract
In workplaces, where no pollution problems are
reported, a significant share of indoor workers (6%
of males, 9% of females) suffer “often, at least once
a week” from headaches attributed to the working
environment.2
This symptom is significantly associated
with occupational stress.3
The individual characteristics of workers, in particular anxiety and depression,
significantly influence the reporting of headache.4
Among health care workers, headache is associated
with occupational stress5
and with sleep problems,6
as
well as with anxiety and depression that were significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemics.7
This study did not take into account these variables.
This may be a major limitation because the study population was drawn from high-risk hospital areas such
as isolation wards (designated as “pandemic wards”),
the emergency rooms and medical intensive care unit.
In these settings, workers are highly likely to experience emotional overload. The association between
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and headache
could be, therefore, spurious and the real factor should
be sought among the psychosocial factors associated
with the pandemic.
Furthermore, the study is entirely based on what
workers remember of the situation before the epidemic,
and this inevitably exposes to a possible recall bias.
We are convinced that the association between
PPE and headache is worthy of controlled longitudinal
studies, which compare different types of PPE and take
into account all confounding factors.
Lingua originale | English |
---|---|
pagine (da-a) | 1444-1445 |
Numero di pagine | 2 |
Rivista | Headache |
Volume | 60 |
DOI | |
Stato di pubblicazione | Pubblicato - 2020 |
Keywords
- COVID-19
- headache
- personal protective equipments
- psychosocial factors
- sleep
- stress