Assessment of the Psychological Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Health Care Workers

Abstract

In addition to being a public physicalhealth emergency, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affected global mental health as cases increased. Objectives: The aim of thisstudyis to determine the psychologicalimpact on mental well-being and associatedriskfactorsamonghealthcareworkers. Researchmethodology: a cross-sectional studyamongMoroccanhealthcareworkerswasconducted to measureprevalence rates of symptoms of anxiety,depression, burn out and theirassociatedfactors, objectified by the Hospital Anxiety and DepressionScale(HADS), Maslach Burnout Inventory(MBI) and a questionnaire, respectively. Results:Symptoms of anxiety, depression, and emotional exhaustion werereported by 38.5%, 28.1% and 85.4% of the 96 respondents,respectively. Beingyoung and having a psychiatrichistorywereassociatedwith more anxietysymptomatology. Whileworking in the intensive care unit, feeling obliged to work in the covid circuit, living withfamilywereassociatedwithdepressionsymptoms. The factorsstatisticallyrelated to burnout wereyears of work, having an organichistory working in intensive care unit and consideringthat the number of staff isinsufficient, that the communication withtheircolleagues and superiorsisinadequate and that the training theyhadbeforejoining covid was not sufficient Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemichad a high impact on the mental well-being of healthcareworkersincreasing the risk of dropout and compromisescontinuity of care. Efforts must be made to optimize working conditions and reduceworkload.