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Psychological Impact of COVID-19 in Health Care Workers in Early Days of COVID-19 Pandemic

Received: 26 June 2020     Accepted: 25 September 2020     Published: 30 September 2020
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Abstract

Introduction: With the end of year 2019, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has emerged as the largest pandemic since 2003, rapidly spreading worldwide. COVID-19 was first discovered in Wuhan province in China, it is now declared as public health emergency of international concern by World Health Organization (WHO) on 30 January 2020. The evaluation of psychological impact and status of overburdened HCWs is of immense importance in regard to planning preventive strategies, dealing and coping with upcoming challenges in COVID-19 pandemic. To date, research on immediate psychological effect in HCWs working in hospitals, treating suspected or diagnosed patients with the 2019-nCoV (SARs-CoV-2) in Pakistan in early phases of COVID-19 outbreak is still deficient. We therefore, aimed to investigate the psychological status of HCWs in early phases of COVID-19 pandemic. Material and methods: This study was multicentre, cross-sectional survey conducted in multiple tertiary care hospitals performing diagnostic test, treating and managing patients with signs and symptoms of COVID -19 disease. Data was collected using a predesigned questionnaire Performa. HCWs working in all clinical departments including doctors, nursing staff, technicians and supporting staff were included in the study. HCWs not consenting for participation in study were excluded. Results: Total of 517 HCWs were included in the study of whom 267 (51.6%) were males and 250 (48.6%) were females. Mean age was 30.4 years (Standard deviation, SD: 7.2, age ranges from19-70 years). Regarding the risk of self-infection, 193 (37.3%) HCWs were worried and 156 (30.2%) were strongly worried. Female HCWs (31.2%) were more concerned than males (29.2%). Most of HCWs were apprehensive about their family members being infected from them. 58.4% of females were strongly worried and 29.2% of females were worried. Medical violence was also concern for HCWs. 39.2% of females and 40.8% of males were worried. Most of HCWs were strongly worried about the health of their colleagues treating and managing the COVID -19 patients on the front line. Prevention strategy for COVID-19 such as social distancing and lockdown was also a concern for all HCWs. Majority of HCWs (48.4%) were hopeful that this pandemic will end within 3 months. Conclusion: We have concluded that there is strong psychological impact among HCWs with special focus on doctors and nurses regarding COVID-19 pandemic making their mental health more vulnerable. Therefore, more attention should be paid on HCWs with allocation of medical and human resources and providing incentives to efficiently manage COVID-19 outbreak.

Published in European Journal of Preventive Medicine (Volume 8, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ejpm.20200805.13
Page(s) 72-76
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

COVID-19 Pandemic, Healthcare Workers, Psychological Impact

References
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[3] Mahase, E. China coronavirus: WHO declares international emergency as death toll exceeds 200. BMJClin. Res. Ed. 2020, 368, m408. [CrossRef] [PubMed].
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[5] Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-latest/factbox-latest-on-the-spread-of-the-coronavirus-around-the-world-idUSKBN21L0L8.
[6] National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, The latest situation of COVID-19 epidemic as of March 7, 2020 (in Chinese) [EB/OL]. http://www.nhc.gov.cn/yjb/s7860/202003/b4c328ff60874b99ba6ce8caf827987b.shtml. 2020-3-8/2020-3-8.
[7] World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report-47. [EB/OL]. https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200307-sitrep-47-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=27c364a4_4, 2020-3-7/2020-3-8.
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[13] Xiang YT, Yang Y, Li W, Zhang L, Zhang Q, Cheung T, Ng CH. Timely mental health care for the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak is urgently needed. The Lancet Psychiatry. 2020 Mar 1; 7 (3): 228-9.
[14] Zhu Z, Xu S, Wang H, Liu Z, Wu J, Li G, Miao J, Zhang C, Yang Y, Sun W, Zhu S. COVID-19 in Wuhan: Immediate Psychological Impact on 5062 Health Workers. medRxiv. 2020 Jan 1.
[15] Zhu N, Zhang D, Wang W, et al. A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019. The New England journal of medicine 2020 doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2001017.
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  • APA Style

    Anum Sultan, Maria Hassan, Durr-e-shahwar Hayat, Muhammad Ali. (2020). Psychological Impact of COVID-19 in Health Care Workers in Early Days of COVID-19 Pandemic. European Journal of Preventive Medicine, 8(5), 72-76. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20200805.13

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    ACS Style

    Anum Sultan; Maria Hassan; Durr-e-shahwar Hayat; Muhammad Ali. Psychological Impact of COVID-19 in Health Care Workers in Early Days of COVID-19 Pandemic. Eur. J. Prev. Med. 2020, 8(5), 72-76. doi: 10.11648/j.ejpm.20200805.13

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    AMA Style

    Anum Sultan, Maria Hassan, Durr-e-shahwar Hayat, Muhammad Ali. Psychological Impact of COVID-19 in Health Care Workers in Early Days of COVID-19 Pandemic. Eur J Prev Med. 2020;8(5):72-76. doi: 10.11648/j.ejpm.20200805.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ejpm.20200805.13,
      author = {Anum Sultan and Maria Hassan and Durr-e-shahwar Hayat and Muhammad Ali},
      title = {Psychological Impact of COVID-19 in Health Care Workers in Early Days of COVID-19 Pandemic},
      journal = {European Journal of Preventive Medicine},
      volume = {8},
      number = {5},
      pages = {72-76},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ejpm.20200805.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20200805.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ejpm.20200805.13},
      abstract = {Introduction: With the end of year 2019, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has emerged as the largest pandemic since 2003, rapidly spreading worldwide. COVID-19 was first discovered in Wuhan province in China, it is now declared as public health emergency of international concern by World Health Organization (WHO) on 30 January 2020. The evaluation of psychological impact and status of overburdened HCWs is of immense importance in regard to planning preventive strategies, dealing and coping with upcoming challenges in COVID-19 pandemic. To date, research on immediate psychological effect in HCWs working in hospitals, treating suspected or diagnosed patients with the 2019-nCoV (SARs-CoV-2) in Pakistan in early phases of COVID-19 outbreak is still deficient. We therefore, aimed to investigate the psychological status of HCWs in early phases of COVID-19 pandemic. Material and methods: This study was multicentre, cross-sectional survey conducted in multiple tertiary care hospitals performing diagnostic test, treating and managing patients with signs and symptoms of COVID -19 disease. Data was collected using a predesigned questionnaire Performa. HCWs working in all clinical departments including doctors, nursing staff, technicians and supporting staff were included in the study. HCWs not consenting for participation in study were excluded. Results: Total of 517 HCWs were included in the study of whom 267 (51.6%) were males and 250 (48.6%) were females. Mean age was 30.4 years (Standard deviation, SD: 7.2, age ranges from19-70 years). Regarding the risk of self-infection, 193 (37.3%) HCWs were worried and 156 (30.2%) were strongly worried. Female HCWs (31.2%) were more concerned than males (29.2%). Most of HCWs were apprehensive about their family members being infected from them. 58.4% of females were strongly worried and 29.2% of females were worried. Medical violence was also concern for HCWs. 39.2% of females and 40.8% of males were worried. Most of HCWs were strongly worried about the health of their colleagues treating and managing the COVID -19 patients on the front line. Prevention strategy for COVID-19 such as social distancing and lockdown was also a concern for all HCWs. Majority of HCWs (48.4%) were hopeful that this pandemic will end within 3 months. Conclusion: We have concluded that there is strong psychological impact among HCWs with special focus on doctors and nurses regarding COVID-19 pandemic making their mental health more vulnerable. Therefore, more attention should be paid on HCWs with allocation of medical and human resources and providing incentives to efficiently manage COVID-19 outbreak.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Psychological Impact of COVID-19 in Health Care Workers in Early Days of COVID-19 Pandemic
    AU  - Anum Sultan
    AU  - Maria Hassan
    AU  - Durr-e-shahwar Hayat
    AU  - Muhammad Ali
    Y1  - 2020/09/30
    PY  - 2020
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20200805.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ejpm.20200805.13
    T2  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
    JF  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
    JO  - European Journal of Preventive Medicine
    SP  - 72
    EP  - 76
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-8230
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ejpm.20200805.13
    AB  - Introduction: With the end of year 2019, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has emerged as the largest pandemic since 2003, rapidly spreading worldwide. COVID-19 was first discovered in Wuhan province in China, it is now declared as public health emergency of international concern by World Health Organization (WHO) on 30 January 2020. The evaluation of psychological impact and status of overburdened HCWs is of immense importance in regard to planning preventive strategies, dealing and coping with upcoming challenges in COVID-19 pandemic. To date, research on immediate psychological effect in HCWs working in hospitals, treating suspected or diagnosed patients with the 2019-nCoV (SARs-CoV-2) in Pakistan in early phases of COVID-19 outbreak is still deficient. We therefore, aimed to investigate the psychological status of HCWs in early phases of COVID-19 pandemic. Material and methods: This study was multicentre, cross-sectional survey conducted in multiple tertiary care hospitals performing diagnostic test, treating and managing patients with signs and symptoms of COVID -19 disease. Data was collected using a predesigned questionnaire Performa. HCWs working in all clinical departments including doctors, nursing staff, technicians and supporting staff were included in the study. HCWs not consenting for participation in study were excluded. Results: Total of 517 HCWs were included in the study of whom 267 (51.6%) were males and 250 (48.6%) were females. Mean age was 30.4 years (Standard deviation, SD: 7.2, age ranges from19-70 years). Regarding the risk of self-infection, 193 (37.3%) HCWs were worried and 156 (30.2%) were strongly worried. Female HCWs (31.2%) were more concerned than males (29.2%). Most of HCWs were apprehensive about their family members being infected from them. 58.4% of females were strongly worried and 29.2% of females were worried. Medical violence was also concern for HCWs. 39.2% of females and 40.8% of males were worried. Most of HCWs were strongly worried about the health of their colleagues treating and managing the COVID -19 patients on the front line. Prevention strategy for COVID-19 such as social distancing and lockdown was also a concern for all HCWs. Majority of HCWs (48.4%) were hopeful that this pandemic will end within 3 months. Conclusion: We have concluded that there is strong psychological impact among HCWs with special focus on doctors and nurses regarding COVID-19 pandemic making their mental health more vulnerable. Therefore, more attention should be paid on HCWs with allocation of medical and human resources and providing incentives to efficiently manage COVID-19 outbreak.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Radiology, Dr Ziauddin Hospital, Clifton Campus, Karachi, Pakistan

  • Department of Radiology, Dr Ziauddin Hospital, Clifton Campus, Karachi, Pakistan

  • Department of Radiology, Dr Ziauddin Hospital, Clifton Campus, Karachi, Pakistan

  • Department of Radiology, Dr Ziauddin Hospital, Clifton Campus, Karachi, Pakistan

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