Gastrointestinal symptom and stress recall survey in frontline healthcare workers after consumption of a combined quebracho/conker tree/M. balsamea willd extract during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Since the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic began, frontline workers in general face the stress of uncertainty and fear in encountering infected individuals in the wider public. Frontline healthcare workers are at particular risk for increasing stress levels when treating and caring for COVID-19 patients. These healthcare professionals experience anxiety, psychological pressure and post-traumatic stress with their associated workloads [1-3]. Post-traumatic stress accompanying the COVID-19 outbreak in healthcare workers also elicits hyperarousal and decreased sleep quality [4]. Post-traumatic stress is known to induce somatization with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms [5].