Mental health of healthcare workers during early phase of COVID19: Variable performance on different factors of stress

Background

Risks to healthcare workers (HCWs) escalate during pandemics and they are likely to experience a greater level of stress. This cross-sectional study investigated mental distress among HCWs during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19).

Method

140 HCWs of a tertiary care hospital in India were assessed for perceived stress and insomnia. A factor analysis with principal component method reduced these questions to four components which were categorized as insomnia, Stress-related Anxiety, Stress-related Irritability, and Stress-related Hopelessness. Further statistical analyses were done on these factor scores to identify the predictors and investigate the differences between the different categories of HCWs.

Result

Doctors were the most anxious among the HCWs. Both doctors and nurses perceived a greater level of irritability than the other HCWs. Compared to the doctors and nurses, other HCWs were more likely to experience insomnia. Lower age, higher education, female gender, and urban habitat were associated with the perception of anxiety. Older age, quarantine, single marital-status predicted irritability. Female gender, single marital-status, and greater ailments contributed to perceived hopelessness. Quarantine significantly predicted insomnia.

Conclusion

Different categories of HCWs might experience disparate mental health problems owing to their heterogeneous socio-demographic backgrounds. Customized and personalized care might prove to be helpful in alleviating their problems.

Highlights

• The doctors and nurses have greater psychological distress than other health-care workers (HCWs).

• Female HCWs are more likely to have stress related anxiety and hopelessness

• Insomnia, stress-related anxiety, stress-related irritability, and stress-related hopelessness have different predictive factors.

• Different categories of HCWs might be affected differently