MENTAL HEALTH STATUS OF HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A WEB-BASED CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY.

Abstract

Introduction: Pandemics are the greatest calamities in the history of mankind that have greatly shaken our society, mentally, financially as well as administratively.Objective: To evaluate the mental health status of health care providers working or deployed at the COVID isolation wards in different Hospitals of Hyderabad during the current pandemic. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from May to July 2020 among the Health Care providers deployed at the COVID isolation wards at the different hospitals of Hyderabad, Sindh. A web-based survey questionnaire was used to collect the demographic information of participants. Generalized Anxiety disorder (GAD-7) and Patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) scales were used to evaluate anxiety and depression levels of study participants. Data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 23. Results: A total of 150 responses were received out of 155. Most (58.7%) of the participants belonged to the age group of 23- 30 years. Out of overall study participants, there were (60.7%) doctors, (34%) nurses, and (5.3%) paramedical staff. Anxiety and depression were prevalent in about (43.10%) and (35.80%) of participants respectively. Severe anxiety was predominant in the 23-30 years’ age of participants (32.1%). While males were (36.0%), unmarried (46.3%), and paramedics (46.0%) were having severe anxiety. Moreover, participants of the age group 31-38 years (43.3%), females (31.8%), married (41.7%) and nurses (41.1%) were suffering from severe depression. Conclusion: The majority of participants in the isolation COVID wards are suffering from Anxiety. Moreover, severe anxiety is predominant among the younger age group, unmarried, female, and paramedics. While majority of males were sufferings from severe anxiety. Severe depression is more commonly present in females, married, and nursing staff.