Table 1 Summary table of baseline characteristics for ITT population (n = 86).

From: Reducing intrusive memories after trauma via an imagery-competing task intervention in COVID-19 intensive care staff: a randomised controlled trial

 

Delayed arm (n = 43)

Immediate arm (n = 43)

Both arms combined (n = 86)

DEMOGRAPHICS

Age and gender

Mean

s.d

Mean

s.d

Mean

s.d

 Age (years)

39.9

9.9

37.4

9.8

38.7

9.9

 Gender

n

%

n

%

n

%

Woman

35

83.3%

34

81.0%

69

82.1%

Man

7

16.7%

8

19.1%

15

17.9%

Other categoriesa

0

0

0

0

0

0

Highest level of education

 Secondary school (to age 16)

1

2.4%

0

 

1

1.2%

 Sixth form or equivalent (to age 18)

1

2.4%

3

7·1%

4

4.8%

 Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

23

54.8%

24

57·1%

47

56.0%

 Master’s degree

13

31.0%

11

26·2%

24

28.6%

 Doctoral degree

3

7.1%

3

7·1%

6

7.1%

 Prefer not to answer

1

2.4%

1

2·4%

2

2.4%

Ethnicity

 White – British

18

42.9%

18

42.9%

36

42.9%

 White – Irish

1

2.4%

1

2.4%

2

2.4%

 White - Any other White background

14

33·3%

9

21.4%

23

27.4%

 Mixed - Any other mixed background

0

 

2

4.8%

2

2.4%

 Asian – Indian

3

7.1%

2

4.8%

5

6.0%

 Asian - Any other Asian background

0

 

1

2.4%

1

1.2%

 Black – African

1

2.4%

1

2.4%

2

2.4%

 Other - Any other ethnic group

1

2.4%

0

 

1

1.2%

 Unknown - Not stated

4

9.5%

8

19.1%

12

14.3%

 Other categoriesb

0

0

0

0

0

0

Marital status

 Single

13

31.0%

13

31.0%

26

31.0%

 Living apart from partner

0

 

1

2.4%

1

1.2%

 Married or cohabiting

28

66.7%

25

59.5%

53

63.1%

 Divorced or separated

1

2.4%

3

7.1%

4

4.8%

 Other categoriesc

0

0

0

0

0

0

Work and Employment

 Work time (hours per week)

37.8

9.2

37·9

13.3

37.8

11.4

 Time as healthcare professional (years)

16.4

10.8

13·0

8.6

14.7

9.8

Employment status

n

%

n

%

n

%

 Working full time

32

76.2%

34

81.0%

66

78.6%

 Working part time

10

23.8%

6

14.3%

16

19.1%

 Sick leave

0

 

1

2.4%

1

1.2%

 Other

0

 

1

2.4%

1

1.2%

 Other categoriesd

0

0

0

0

0

0

NHS Job Rolee

 Allied Health Professionals

1

2.3%

3

7.0%

4

4.7%

 Doctors

11

25.6%

8

18.6%

19

22.1%

 Health Informatics

1

2.3%

0

 

1

1.16%

 Healthcare Support Worker

1

2.3%

2

4.7%

3

3.5%

 Nursing

28

65.1%

29

67.4%

57

66.3%

 Other/unknown

1

2.3%

0

 

1

1.16%

 Pharmacy

0

 

1

2.3%

1

1.2%

Prior Health and Trauma

Health backgroundf

n

%

n

%

n

%

 Do you have any current physical health problems e.g., diabetes, heart problems? (yes/no; n = yes)

9

21.4%

8

19.5%

17

20.5%

 Have you been treated for/diagnosed with any mental health problems e.g., depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder? (yes/no; n = yes)

24

57.1%

22

53.7%

46

55.4%

 Are you receiving any current treatments/medications for these? (yes/no; n = yes)

17

40.5%

15

36.6%

33

39.8%

 Has anyone in your close family been treated for/diagnosed with any mental health problems? (yes/no; n = yes)

16

38.1%

14

34.2%

30

36.1%

Experiences of Prior Trauma

Mean

s.d.

Mean

s.d.

Mean

s.d.

 How many work-related traumatic events have you experienced/witnessed during COVID-19? Remember: A traumatic event is defined as an event that involved actual or risk of death, serious injury, or sexual violence for you or someone else.”

38.4

80.9

35.9

58.0

37.1

70.0

 How many traumatic events that were not work-related have you experienced/witnessed during COVID-19 (e.g., serious accident, assault, injury or illness)?

10.2

46.2

4.5

15.6

7.3

34.4

Which of the following categories best fit the work-related traumatic events that you have experienced or witnessed during COVID-19, of which you have intrusive memories?

n

%

n

%

n

%

 A traumatic or tragic death of a patient

40

95.2%

38

90.5%

78

92.9%

 A severe or unsuccessful resuscitation

32

76.2%

26

61.9%

58

69.1%

 Witnessing events surrounding colleague who has fallen ill or died of COVID-19

18

42.9%

19

45.2%

37

44.1%

 Situation where the care of a patient failed or did not go as planned

31

73.8%

33

78.6%

64

76.2%

 Threats or violence against healthcare professionals

13

31.0%

26

61.9%

39

46.4%

 Event involving sudden increased risk of COVID-19 infection

29

69.1%

23

54.8%

52

61.9%

 A traumatic or tragic event where a patient reminded you of yourself, a family member or friend

31

73.8%

29

69.1%

60

71.4%

 Event involving extremely distressed/grieving relatives of patients

33

78.6%

37

88.1%

70

83.3%

 Being faced with suicide / suicide attempt

18

42.9%

14

33.3%

32

38.1%

 Other

2

4.8%

5

11.9%

7

8.3%

Timeframe of work-related traumatic events experienced at baseline

      

 Within the last 24 h

4

9.5%

3

7.1%

7

8.3%

 Within the past month

8

19.1%

7

16.7%

15

17.9%

 Between 1–3 months ago

7

16.7%

8

19.1%

15

17.9%

 More than 3 months ago

24

57.1%

22

52.4%

46

54.8%

 Ongoing exposure to traumatic events is part of my job during the COVID-19 pandemic

37

88.1%

33

78.6%

70

83.3%

 

Mean

s.d.

Mean

s.d.

Mean

s.d.

 Perceived life threat to someone elsef

8.3

2.8

9.1

1.4

8.7

2.3

 Perceived life threat to selff

5.3

3.4

4.7

3.4

5.0

3.4

 Peritraumatic Distress Inventory Total Scoref

28.6

9.9

30.5

10.2

29.6

10.0

Experiences of Ongoing Trauma

Week 4g

n

%

n

%

n

%

 Have you experienced or witnessed any new work-related traumatic events? (yes/no, n = yes)

19

50.0%

11

39.3%

30

45.5%

 

Mean

s.d.

Mean

s.d.

Mean

s.d.

 How many new work-related traumatic events have you experienced/witnessed?

3.2

6.7

1.6

2.8

2.6

5.5

 How many new traumatic events that were not work-related have you experienced/witnessed?

0.2

0.6

0.1

0.5

0.2

0.5

Week 8h

n

%

n

%

n

%

 Have you experienced or witnessed any new work-related traumatic events? (yes/no, n = yes)

9

29.0%

16

51.6%

25

40.3%

 

Mean

s.d.

Mean

s.d.

Mean

s.d.

 How many new work-related traumatic events have you experienced/witnessed?

1.5

3.8

2.3

3.5

1.9

3.7

 How many new traumatic events that were not work-related have you experienced/witnessed?

0.1

0.3

0.4

1.08

0.2

0.8

Expectancy of Intervention Effectf

 

Mean

s.d.

Mean

s.d.

Mean

s.d.

 Credibility and Expectancy Questionnaire total score

32.6

8.7

31.6

6.8

32.1

7.8

 At this point, how logical does the intervention offered to you seem?

6.0

1.9

5.8

1.6

5.9

1.7

 At this point, how successful do you think this intervention will be in reducing your intrusive memories?

5.4

1.7

5.0

1.0

5.2

1.4

 How confident would you be in recommending this intervention to a friend who experiences similar problems?

5.9

2.0

5.3

1.6

5.6

1.9

 By the end of the intervention period (4 weeks), how much improvement in your intrusive memories do you think will occur? (%)

50.7

21.1

52.7

21.3

51.7

21.1

 At this point, how much do you really feel that the intervention will help you to reduce your intrusive memories?

5.2

1.6

5.2

1.6

5.2

1.6

 By the end of the intervention period (4 weeks), how much improvement in your intrusive memories do you really feel will occur? (%)

49.0

22.0

50.7

22.5

49.9

22.1

  1. In this table, data for how many new work-related traumatic events have you experienced/witnessed and how many new traumatic events that were not work-related have you experienced/witnessed for week 4 and week 8 are given as the mean (sd). In the Ramineni et al. [1] paper, the data are reported as number (%) with scores categorised into ranges which are 0, 1–5, 6–10, 11–15 and 15+;
  2. The data are presented with missingness excluded and are the mean (SD) or number (%), with percentages calculated according to the number of participants for whom data are available out of the intention-to-treat population (n = 86). Data are also shown in Ramineni et al. [1] which has missingness included, and has percentages calculated out of the intention-to-treat-population (n = 86).
  3. Total n observed for all other data is 84 (delayed arm n = 42; immediate arm n = 42).
  4. ITT Intention to treat, SD standard deviation, n number.
  5. aOther categories for gender were Transwoman; Transman; Gender-variant/non-binary; Other Identity; Prefer not to answer.
  6. bOther categories for ethnicity were Mixed - White and Black Caribbean; Mixed - White and Black African; Mixed - White and Asian; Asian – Pakistani; Asian – Bangladeshi; Black – Caribbean; Black - Any other Black background; Other – Chinese; Other – Arab; Other – Traveller.
  7. cOther categories for marital status were Widowed; Other.
  8. dOther categories for employment status were Jobseeking; Student; Retired.
  9. eData where total n observed = 86 (delayed arm n = 43; immediate arm n = 43).
  10. fData where total n observed = 83 (delayed arm n = 42; immediate arm n = 41).
  11. gData where total n observed = 66 (delayed arm n = 38; immediate arm n = 28).
  12. hData where total n observed = 62 (delayed arm n = 31; immediate arm n = 31).
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