Abstract: Background: COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental health of the general population, and in particular of health professionals. Primary care personnel are at greater risk due to being highly exposed to the disease and working regularly in direct contact with patients suffering COVID-19. However, there is not sufficient evidence on the long-term psychological impact these professionals may suffer. We aimed to explore the long-term psychological impact of COVID-19 on primary care professionals. Methods: We applied a two-phase design; a self-reported psychopathology screening (PHQ-9, GAD-7, ISI and IES-R) in phase-1, and a specialised psychiatric evaluation (MINI, HDRS and STAI) in phase-2 to confirm phase-1 results. Evaluations were carried at the beginning of the pandemic (May---June 2020) (n = 410) and one year later (n = 339). Chi-square, ANOVA and logistic regression tests were used for statistical analyses.Results: Primary care professionals presented high rates of depression, anxiety and psychologi-cal distress, measured by PHQ-9, GAD-7 and IES-R respectively, during the pandemic. Depressivesymptoms? severity (PHQ-9: 7.5 vs 8.4, p = 0.013) increased after one year of COVID-19 pan-demic. After one year nearly 40% of subjects presented depression. Being women, havingsuffered COVID-19 or a relative with COVID-19, and being a front-line professional were riskfactors for presenting depression and anxiety.Conclusion: Primary Care professionals in Cantabria present a poor mental health during COVID-19 pandemic, which has even worsened at long-term, presenting a greater psychopathologyseverity one year after. Thus, it is critical implementing prevention and early-treatment pro-grammes to help these essential professionals to cope with the pandemic.

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