A study on stigma and apprehensions related to COVID-19 among healthcare professionals in Delhi

Abstract

Background: Public health emergencies during pandemics of communicable diseases, may cause fear leading to social isolation and stigma. Cases have been reported of healthcare professionals (HCPs), facing discrimination on account of heightened fear and misinformation. However, there is dearth of literature with regards to the nature and magnitude of this stigma. Hence, this study was conducted to assess perceived and experienced stigma related to the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among HCPs and also assess their apprehensions about testing, quarantine/isolation and consuming Hydroxy-chloroquine as prophylaxis (HCQ).Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken among the HCPs working in Delhi during the period May to July 2020. The study was conducted using a semi-structured online questionnaire which was circulated on official contact numbers and email IDs of HCPs in the Google.doc format.Result: Seventy percent of the participants in the current study perceived some kind of stigma, 50% of study participants perceived some form of stigma in their residential colony, 46% observed change in behaviour of their neighbours. Around 20% of participants experienced stigma, most commonly being rude behaviour or harassment from neighbour/landlord. A statistically significant association was observed between marital status (p=0.038), designation (p=0.021) and place of stay (p=0.013) of the study participants and perceived stigma among them. The level of awareness regarding HCQ was high (94.3%), but more than 60% didn’t consume it due to apprehension about side effects.Conclusion: In view of the substantial stigma faced by the HCP, necessary measures to curb the fear and dispel misinformation related to COVID-19 must be undertaken. the rural population.

Fear, Psychosomatic Symptoms and Satisfaction of Primary Healthcare Workers during the First Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic in Rivers State Nigeria: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

“…Our findings showed no stigmatization on the part of the PHCWs. This is contrary to other studies in Nigeria and abroad which revealed that healthcare workers were highly stigmatized by people around them [13][14][15][16][17][18]. The possible explanation for this could be that the people believed that these are PHCWs who are not frontline workers who are in direct contact with the COVID-19 patients.…”

Perceived COVID‐19‐associated discrimination, mental health and professional‐turnover intention among frontline clinical nurses: The mediating role of resilience

“…In one study, 69.5% of HCWs reported rude and threatening behaviours against them by the public, while 30% reported receiving derogatory remarks (Yadav et al . 2020). Such displays of discriminatory behaviour from the public against nurses may be due to nurses’ high level of involvement in the management and care of suspected and/or infected patients, which puts them at higher risk of contracting the virus compared to other community members (Dye et al .…”

Validity and Reliability of a COVID-19 Stigma Scale Using Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis in a Sample of Egyptian Physicians: E16-COVID19-S

“…Research that quantitatively examined the extent of COVID-19 stigma among HCWs is limited. Studies from Nigeria [11], Pakistan [12], and India [13] reported that 28.3%, 41.9%, and 70% of studied HCWs experienced some form of stigma, respectively. However, these and other studies assessed COVID-19 stigma with non-specific/non-validated tools or among quarantined HCWs or non-HCWs [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18].…”