PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Charland, Katia
AU  - Pannunzio, Matteo
AU  - Greenspan-Ardman, Eleanor
AU  - Saucier, Adrien
AU  - Pierce, Laura
AU  - Hamelin, Marie-Eve
AU  - Barbosa Da Torre, Margot
AU  - Carbonneau, Julie
AU  - Tuong Nguyen, Cat
AU  - De Serres, Gaston
AU  - Papenburg, Jesse
AU  - Boivin, Guy
AU  - Quach, Caroline
AU  - Zinszer, Kate
TI  - SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and mental health of school staff: a cross-sectional study of schools from four areas of Montreal, Quebec in 2021
AID  - 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-081838
DP  - 2024 Aug 01
TA  - BMJ Open
PG  - e081838
VI  - 14
IP  - 8
4099  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/8/e081838.short
4100  - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/8/e081838.full
SO  - BMJ Open2024 Aug 01; 14
AB  - Objectives To assess the seroprevalence of infection-acquired SARS-CoV-2 and the mental health of school/daycare staff in the months after reopening of schools in Montreal, Quebec (Canada) in the Fall of 2020 and whether these varied by school and participant characteristics.Design A cross-sectional design based on a convenience sample of schools/daycares and staff was used as the originally planned longitudinal design was no longer feasible due to obstacles in recruitment, for example, teacher’s strike.Setting Forty-nine schools/daycares in four Montreal neighbourhoods from March to October 2021.Participants Three-hundred and sixty-two participants completed both questionnaires and serology tests.Primary and secondary outcome measures SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and prevalence of anxiety, depression, resilience and burnout/emotional exhaustion.Results The seroprevalence estimate made representative to the Quebec population of educators was 8.6% (95% CI 5.2 to 13.0). The adjusted seroprevalence in high school was 20% that of elementary school (aRR=0.20, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.58). Thirty per cent of seropositive staff were exposed to a household member with confirmed COVID-19. Prevalence of high emotional exhaustion/burnout was 35%, 44% and 53% in daycare, elementary school and high school staff, respectively. However, moderate/severe anxiety and depression and low resilience did not exceed 18%. After adjusting for confounders, being very afraid of catching COVID-19 at school was associated with moderate–severe anxiety, moderate–severe depression and high emotional exhaustion (aRR=4.4, 95% CI 2.2 to 8.9; aRR=2.8, 95% CI 1.5 to 5.4; aRR=2.2, 95% CI 1.6 to 3.0, respectively).Conclusion The seroprevalence, anxiety and depression among school/daycare staff were comparable to the reported levels in the adult population of Quebec. The prevalence of emotional exhaustion/burnout was high across all school levels and exceeding the average across all occupations in the USA and in teachers in Germany.Data are available upon reasonable request.