Anxiety amongst physicians during COVID-19: cross-sectional study in Pakistan

Abstract

Background Ensuring safety and wellbeing of healthcare providers is crucial, particularly during times of a pandemic. In this study, we aim to identify the determinants of anxiety in physicians on duty in coronavirus wards or quarantine centers. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional quantitative survey with an additional qualitative item. Five constructs of workload, exhaustion, family strain, feeling of protection, and anxiety were measured using items from two validated tools. Modifications were made for regional relevance. Factor analysis was performed showing satisfactory Cronbach alpha results. Overall, 103 physicians completed the questionnaire. Results T-test results revealed significant associations between gender and anxiety. Structural equation modeling identified that high workload contributed to greater exhaustion (β = 0.41, R2 = 0.17, p < 0.001) and greater family strain (β = 0.47, R2 = 0.22, p < 0.001). Exhaustion (β = 0.17, p < 0.005), family strain (β = 0.34, p < 0.001), and feelings of protection (β = − 0.30, p < 0.001) significantly explained anxiety (R2 = 0.28). Qualitative findings further identified specific needs of physicians with regard to protective equipment, compensation, quarantine management, resource allocation, security and public support, governance improvement, and health sector development. Conclusions It is imperative to improve governmental and social support for physicians and other healthcare providers during the corona pandemic. Immediate attention is needed to reduce anxiety, workload, and family strain in frontline practitioners treating coronavirus patients, and to improve their (perceptions of) protection. This is a precondition for patient safety.

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“…The COVID-19 pandemic has permanently altered the global landscape. The crippling consequences of the lockdown have been felt in all spheres of life (Bae et al, 2021), including a crumbling health system (Miller et al, 2020;Mahmood et al, 2021), panic buying (Ahmad and Murad, 2020;Arafat et al, 2020), a severe and difficult-to-resolve economic and labor crisis (Sukharev, 2020), high levels of distress (Cullen et al, 2020), and so on. Both the short-term and long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have influenced how people view and represent current events and future scenarios, including adherence to preventive behavior (Liu, 2021).…”

The Moderating Role of Personal Resources Between Demands and Ill-Being of Romanian Healthcare Professionals in the COVID-19 Pandemic

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“…Since healthcare providers are the ones who directly encounter COVID-19positive people, it is highly pertinent to study and analyze their knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and practices toward COVID-19 (25). As previously noted, some studies have found substantial associations between gender, age, and DAS in healthcare providers in Pakistan (26,27). Likewise, we have focused on the same thematic area but from a different geographical region and from an anthropological perspective.…”

“…Considering the importance of the Primary Health Providers' (PHPs) views, Hussain et al studied the knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19 in three tertiary care hospitals located in Peshawar, Khyber, Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) ( 25 ). While paying attention to the determinants of anxiety in physicians who worked in coronavirus wards or quarantine centers, Mahmood et al found that there are substantial associations between “gender and anxiety” and identified specific needs of physicians, such as in relation to personal protective equipment (PPE), quarantine management, security and public support, and resource allocation ( 26 ). Moreover, Arshad et al aimed to explore depression, anxiety, and stress (DAS) in HCWs and found that depression was significantly associated with the profession, and anxiety and stress were substantially associated with the age of HCWs: older ones wore more anxious and younger ones less ( 27 ).…”