Anxiety Levels Among Female Iranian Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Surge: A Cross-sectional Study

Kaveh, Mahbod; Hajaliakbari, Venus; Davari-tanha, Fateme; Varaei, Shokoh; Ghajarzadeh, Mahsa; Feizabad, Elham; Ashraf, M.; Kaveh, Zahra

doi:10.30699/jogcr.7.2.69

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Age: 21 papers found a strong relation between anxiety and age [4,118,143,157,187,221,221,222,224,225,239,[241][242][243][244][245][246][247][248][249][250][251]. Specifically, 16 reports claimed that younger age seems to be associated with higher anxiety [4,118,187,201,221,224,225,239,[241][242][243][244][245][247][248][249][251][252][253]. Only three papers argued the opposite [222,246,254].…”

Section: Results For Anxietymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gender: There are numerous articles that have found a strong correlation between gender and anxiety [4,157,[255][256][257]. In almost all articles, the female gender was associated with a higher level of anxiety than men [8,16,67,104,161,185,187,221,222,225,233,[242][243][244][245]250,[258][259][260][261][262][263]. Females reported being more influenced by anxiety and experiencing more negative emotion [161].…”

Section: Results For Anxietymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of COVID-19 First Wave on Psychological and Psychosocial Dimensions: A Systematic Review

Filindassi

Pedrini

Sabadini

et al. 2022

COVID

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A systematic review of the literature investigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological and psychosocial factors was completed. Published literature was examined using electronic databases to search psychosocial factors such as beliefs and media persuasion, social support, coping, risk perception, and compliance and social distancing; and psychological factors as anxiety, stress, depression, and other consequences of COVID-19 that impacted mental health among the pandemic. A total of 294 papers referring to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (December 2019–June 2020) were selected for the review. The findings suggested a general deterioration of mental health, delineating a sort of “psychological COVID-19 syndrome”, characterized by increased anxiety, stress, and depression, and decreased well-being and sleep quality. The COVID-19 effect on the psychological dimensions of interest was not the same for everyone. Indeed, some socio-demographic variables exacerbated mental health repercussions that occurred due to the pandemic. In particular, healthcare workers and young women (especially those in postpartum condition) with low income and low levels of education have been shown to be the least resilient to the consequences of the pandemic.

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Section: Results For Anxietymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Results For Anxietymentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of COVID-19 First Wave on Psychological and Psychosocial Dimensions: A Systematic Review

Filindassi

Pedrini

Sabadini

et al. 2022

COVID

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Consistent with this finding, Ardakani et al reported that 58.6% of HCWs had COVID-19-related health anxiety [ 21 ]. Research shows that health anxiety is higher in HCWs than in the general population [ 18 , 19 ]. Research on the psychological effects of the spread of infectious diseases such as Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and pandemic influenza (H1N1) on HCWs shows they are exposed to the stress of overwork due to the outbreak of infectious diseases, fear of transmitting the disease to themselves and their families, working with new and changing protocols, caring for critically ill and dying patients, and caring for their sick colleagues [ 45 – 47 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The prevalence of health anxiety in the general population was lower than the medical staff [17]. The prevalence of health anxiety is higher in medical employees [18]. In recent studies, the prevalence of health anxiety in medical staff has been reported 30.14 to 72.3% [18][19][20][21][22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Predictors of COVID-19-related health anxiety among health care workers: a cross-sectional study

2022

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Background One of the psychological issues that may affect health care workers (HCWs) during the outbreak of COVID-19 is health anxiety. Health anxiety disorder goes beyond normal health concerns and can seriously affect occupational and interpersonal performance. The present study was designed to determine the level of COVID-19-related health anxiety and its predictors in Iranian HCWs. Methods This is a cross-sectional study. Data were collected online through a demographic information questionnaire and the short version of the Health Anxiety Questionnaire. The online questionnaires were created via Google Form and the URL link was sent to HCWs via email or social networking applications. In total, questionnaires were sent to more than 1,500 HCWs throughout Iran. Data were analyzed with SPSS software version 23. Results Five hundred and fifty-two HCWs completed and sent the questionnaires. The mean scores of health anxiety of HCWs were higher than the cutoff point of health anxiety (17.28 ± 8.84) and 58.1% of HCWs had health anxiety. There was a significant inverse relationship between health anxiety score and age (r = − 0.13; P = 0.002), work experience (r = − 0.16; P < 0.001) and income level (r = − 0.097; P = 0.03). The rate of health anxiety was significantly higher in females (P = 0.03). Based on regression results, age and hospital category were significant risk factors for health anxiety. Conclusion Based on the results of this study, employees working in health centers in Iran had high health anxiety. Due to the high level of health anxiety in HCWs, it is important to consider strategies to reduce their health anxiety in the current situation.

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Correlation between COVID-19-related health anxiety and coping styles among frontline nurses

Saeedi,

Abedini,

Latif

et al. 2023

BMC Nurs

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Background The long-term epidemic of COVID-19 and its recurrence has exposed frontline nurses to mental disorders such as stress and health anxiety. High levels of health anxiety associated with COVID-19 may lead to maladaptive behaviors. There is no agreement on which coping styles are most effective against stress. Therefore, more evidence is required to find better adaptive behaviors. The present study was conducted to investigate the correlation between the level of health anxiety and the type of coping strategies used by frontline nurses fighting COVID-19. Methods This is a cross-sectional study that was performed on a convenience sample of 386 nurses who are working in the COVID department from October to December 2020, coinciding with the outbreak of the third COVID-19 peak in Iran. Data were collected through a demographic questionnaire, the short version of the health anxiety questionnaire, and coping inventory for stressful situations. Data were analyzed using independent T-test, U-Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests with SPSS version 23 software. Results The mean score of nurses’ health anxiety was 17.61 ± 9.26 which was more than the cut-off point for health anxiety and 59.1% of nurses had COVID-19-related health anxiety. The mean score of problem coping style (26.85 ± 5.19), was higher than emotion (18.48 ± 5.63) and avoidance (19.64 ± 5.88) coping styles and nurses mostly used problem-coping strategies to deal with anxiety caused by COVID-19. There was a positive significant correlation between the scores of health anxiety and emotion coping style (r = 0.54; P < 0.001). Conclusion Based on the findings of this study, COVID-19-related health anxiety was high in front-line nurses and those with high health anxiety were more likely to use emotion-based coping strategies, which are ineffective. Therefore, considering strategies to reduce nurses’ health anxiety and holding training programs on effective coping methods in epidemic conditions are recommended.

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Anxiety Levels Among Female Iranian Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Surge: A Cross-sectional Study

Cited by 4 publications

References 20 publications

Impact of COVID-19 First Wave on Psychological and Psychosocial Dimensions: A Systematic Review

Impact of COVID-19 First Wave on Psychological and Psychosocial Dimensions: A Systematic Review

Predictors of COVID-19-related health anxiety among health care workers: a cross-sectional study

Correlation between COVID-19-related health anxiety and coping styles among frontline nurses

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