VOLUME 54 , ISSUE 3 ( July-September, 2020 ) > List of Articles
Swapnajeet Sahoo, Ritu Nehra, Meha Verma, Sandeep Grover
Citation Information : Sahoo S, Nehra R, Verma M, Grover S. Psychological Issues Faced by the Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Postgrad Med Edu Res 2020; 54 (3):88-93.
DOI: 10.5005/jp-journals-10028-1394
License: CC BY-NC 4.0
Published Online: 31-03-2021
Copyright Statement: Copyright © 2020; The Author(s).
Aim and objective: The current study aimed to evaluate the psychological issues, including the prevalence of anxiety and depression among healthcare workers (HCWs) working in a tertiary care center. Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional online survey in which the survey link was sent to employees of the institute, either through personal messages or using various WhatsApp groups. The survey questionnaire assessed depression, anxiety, and other psychological issues among the HCWs. Results: The study included 88 participants with a mean age of 32.8 (SD: 9.5) years. A majority of participants were male (54.5%) and were married (53.8%). 29.5% had been quarantined or had to stay in self-isolation for doing duties in coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) area. The anxiety disorder and depressive disorder were present in 15.9 and 13.6%, respectively. All the participants with depressive disorders also had an anxiety disorder. About one-fifth to half of the participants reported “mostly or always” experiencing the feelings of loneliness, social disconnectedness, feeling of being used, running away from work, scared of contacting infection, scared of not getting support from the administration, scared of not getting personal protective equipment (PPE), feeling angry because of lack of adequate safety equipment, tense of getting infected with COVID-19, and tense of unknowingly spreading the infection. However, one-fifth to half of the participants reported “mostly or always” experiencing the feelings of being optimistic and feeling proud of self. Conclusion: Every seventh HCWs found to be suffering from diagnosable mental disorders. A significant proportion of HCWs are also experiencing a multitude of negative emotions. These findings suggest that there is a need to develop mental health support for all HCWs, and also there is a need to address the concern of HCWs.