Assessment of depression, anxiety and stress experienced by health care and allied workers involved in SARS-CoV2 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to a global health crisis. Health workforce has been working vigorously in COVID-19 management. So, we have planned this study with an aim to assess the psychological profile of healthcare and allied workers involved in SARS-CoV2 pandemic and to look for associated factors. Methodology: A cross-sectional observational study was planned at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna. Study population comprised of Health care workers and allied health care workers involved in COVID-19 management. Results: Data from 254 study participants have been included in the study. The prevalence of severe and extremely severe depression among study participants was 8.3 and 3.1 percent. Severe and extremely severe anxiety prevalence was found to be 9.4 and 13.8 percent. The prevalence of severe and extremely severe stress was 2.4 and 2.4 percent each. Education till post-graduation, unmarried, occupation of doctor, Comorbidity of headache and occurrence of influenza-like illness in last 3 months had a statistically significant association with high depression score. With high Anxiety score and high-stress score statistically significant association was seen in education till postgraduation, unmarried, occupation of doctor, duration of 1 COVID-19 duty of ≥8 hours. Conclusion: The study highlights high psychological comorbidities in the form of depression, anxiety and stress among health care workers and allied health care workers working in COVID-19 pandemic. Prevalence of psychological morbidity is higher among doctors compared to nurses and allied health workers. COVID-19 duty of ≥8 hours have been found to be hampering mental health.

Effectiveness of a chatbot in improving the mental wellbeing of health workers in Malawi during the COVID-19 pandemic: A randomized, controlled trial

“…Our participants saw a negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic across all outcomes (except for resilience scores), similarly to findings from a study in Jordan [50]. A study of healthcare and allied workers involved in the COVID-19 pandemic from India found high levels of severe and extremely severe anxiety (23.2%) and severe and extremely severe depression (11.4%) [54]. The level of severe anxiety was almost double of that found in our study (which did not focus on workers involved in the pandemic).…”

Psychological assessment using DASS-21 and association of sociodemographic variables with mental health in health-care professionals and general population during COVID-19 pandemic

“…15 The findings of the present study are in stark disparity with a similar study conducted in 2020 in AIIMS Patna, where a statistically significant association of depression, stress, and anxiety was found with occupational and marital status. 16 Another study conducted among armed forces doctors reported a significant association of anxiety with age groups (20-35 years) and gender (females). 17 The results of the present study indicated a significant levels of depression, anxiety, and stress among both HCPs and general population; therefore, relevant interventions must be practiced to improve the mental health of people from all quarters during this ongoing pandemic.…”

A Literature Review: The Mental Problem Caused by Nurses’ Work Stress under the Impact of COVID-19

“…As the health care worker is the main force during the Covid-19 era, hence, protecting the nursing workers' psychological health is necessary to control the transmission of coronavirus disease [27]. Thereinto, female health care workers have a higher risk of experiencing depression and anxiety, as female nurses might face different stressors including role pressure, the imbalance between work and life, and lack of enough support [20,28]. In addition, their fear of bringing the coronavirus to family members could also increase the level of anxiety and depression [10,20,21,29].…”

“…Lack of support, long-term separation from family, no support for mental requirements, and no feedback from doctors, managers, and nurses had increased nurses' anxiety and depression, which infect their psychological health [28]. Hence, Labrague and Santos emphasized the significance of proving adequate organizational support when the level of work stress and anxiety is high [13].…”