Magnitude and Predictors of Health Care Workers Depression During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Health Facility-Based Study in Eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Depression of health care workers was related to work absences, resignations, and poor work performance, affecting the quality of patient care and the health care system. The Coronavirus disease pandemic has had an effect on the mental health of health care workers. Health care workers are facing challenges that can be stressful, overwhelming, and cause strong emotions, may put them at higher risk to develop depression. There is limited evidence that assesses health care workers' depression and its associated factors in the study area during the Coronavirus disease pandemic. Therefore this study aimed to assess depression and associated factors among health care workers in eastern Ethiopia.Method: The cross-sectional study design was conducted from October 26th to November 15, 2020. A total of 265 health care workers from 10 health facilities participated. Patient Health Questionnaire was used for the collection of depressive symptoms. The data were analyzed by using STATA version 14 software. To assess the association between depression and the predictors Adjusted Odds Ratio along with a 95% confidence interval was estimated by using logistic regression analysis. A statistical significance was declared at p-value ≤ 0.05.Results: Of the total 265 study participant, 176 (66.4%) and 95% CI: 60.4%, 71.8% of them reported depressive symptoms. Of 176 reported symptoms of depression 27.9, 24.1, 9.4, 3.7, and 1.1% were had minimal, mild, moderate, moderate-severe, and severe depressive symptoms respectively. The multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed the odds of depression were 2.34 times higher among female participants compared to male participants (AOR: 2.34, 95%CI: 1.09-5.02). In addition, the odds of depression for participants who perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 was 4.05 times higher among their counterpart (AOR: 4.05, 95%CI: 1.12-14.53).Conclusions: Health care workers who experienced depression in the study was high. Health care workers' mental health needs to be protected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Female health care workers and health care workers perceived susceptibility of COVID-19 need attention.

Psychological outcomes and associated factors amongst healthcare workers during a single wave, deeper into the COVID-19 pandemic in China

“…However, since COVID-19 was highly transmissible and was linked to high morbidity as well as potential death, it still represented a sustained psychological burden on HCWs (22). Overall, the results suggested that psychological problems were more prevalent in female HCWs compared with males and this was in line with previous studies conducted in China (8), Ethiopia (20), Italy (21), India (19) and Egypt (23). Studies have shown that females tend to perceive themselves as more likely to fall into stressful circumstances than males (24).…”

“…Overall, the results suggested that psychological problems were more prevalent in female HCWs compared with males and this was in line with previous studies conducted in China ( 8 ), Ethiopia ( 20 ), Italy ( 21 ), India ( 19 ) and Egypt ( 23 ). Studies have shown that females tend to perceive themselves as more likely to fall into stressful circumstances than males ( 24 ).…”

“…However, the prevalence of mental health outcomes, as obtained in this study, was similar to that reported by Tian et al during a study done in April 2020 (20.7, 45.6, and 27.0%, respectively) ( 18 ). Furthermore, for studies involving HCWs in other countries and regions around the world, the prevalence of anxiety reported by Temsah et al was 38.9% ( 19 ), while that of depression, reported by Yadeta et al was 66.4% ( 20 ). Similarly, Rossi et al found that 8.27% of the participants in their study had severe insomnia ( 21 ), with this value being higher than the 1.0% obtained in this study.…”

Marital Status and Gender Differences as Key Determinants of COVID-19 Impact on Wellbeing, Job Satisfaction and Resilience in Health Care Workers and Staff Working in Academia in the UK During the First Wave of the Pandemic

“…Another study from Singapore found that non-medical HCWs reported more anxiety compared to medical HCWs ( 31 ). Of interest is a study from Ethiopia that found that HCWs who perceived themselves as being at risk if infected with COVID-19 were four times more likely to be depressed in comparison to their colleagues ( 32 ), which points to the relevance of various psychological variables and personal views related to the individual risk of COVID-19 infection.…”

Nurses’ stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout in the workplace: A correlational study

“…Nurses with chronic medical illness, children to take care of at home, and rotational shifts contributed to increasing stress experiences (Dechasa et al, 2021;Baye et al, 2020). In the face of the current pandemic, depressive symptoms were high among nurses' secondary to the mental effects and concerns about safety (GebreEyesus et al, 2021;Yadeta et al, 2021). The findings of the current study had described the context of stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout in the workplace that serve to provide recommendations for needed action.…”