Marital status and gender differences as key determinants of COVID-19 impact on well-being, job satisfaction and resilience in health care workers and staff working in academia in the UK during the first wave of the pandemic

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global public health crisis that continues to exert immense pressure on healthcare and related professional staff and services. The impact on staff wellbeing is likely to be influenced by a combination of modifiable and non-modifiable factors. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the self-reported wellbeing, resilience, and job satisfaction of National Health Service (NHS) and university staff working in the field of healthcare and medical research. METHODS: We conducted a cross sectional survey of NHS and UK university staff throughout the COVID-19 pandemic between May-November 2020. The anonymous and voluntary survey was disseminated through social media platforms, and via e-mail to members of professional and medical bodies. The data was analysed using descriptive and regression (R) statistics. RESULTS: The enjoyment of work and satisfaction outside of work was significantly negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic for all of staff groups independent of other variables. Furthermore, married women reporting significantly lower well-being than married men (P=0.028). Additionally, the well-being of single females was significantly lower than both married women and men (P=0.017 and P