The findings also revealed that Latino families reported fewer acts of compassion from medical staffers. Experts believe kindness may act as a protective layer against stress.
By Tat Bellamy-Walker | NBC News | APR. 26, 2022 | Photo by Scott Olson
Latino family members of Covid-19 ICU patients face a higher risk of developing PTSD symptoms than other groups, according to a study published Monday by JAMA Network.
The findings reveal that Latino families of Covid-19 patients in the ICU are more likely to experience symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. Hispanic family members accounted for nearly 30 percent of the participants in the study. The findings were collected during the onset of the pandemic in 2020 when many family members were barred from visiting patients due to the protocols in place.
At that time, many families relied on health care providers to feel connected to sick relatives due to Covid-19 restrictions in hospitals. However, the study found Latino families often lacked this kind of support. Fewer Latinos — 11.8 percent — reported “above-and-beyond” acts of compassion from medical staff compared to nearly 35 percent of non-Latinos.
“These very special and unique acts of what we called acts of compassion or acts of kindness mattered so much to people,” Dr. Lauren Jodi Van Scoy, the study’s co-author and associate professor of Medicine, Humanities and Public Health Sciences at Penn State College of Medicine, told NBC News in a phone call. “Unfortunately, in the Hispanic group, they were less likely, or it was less common, that they were reporting these acts.”
Researchers say Latinos also experienced higher levels of mistrust of medical staff due to a lack of in-person visits.
While experts are not exactly sure why Latinos are most impacted by PTSD symptoms, they said bias and a lack of culturally competent medical care may play a role.
