Assessment of quality of work life (QWL) among healthcare staff of intensive care unit (ICU) and emergency unit during COVID-19 outbreak using WHOQoL-BREF

Muhammad Bilal Maqsood,Md Ashraful Islam,Zeb-Un- Nisa,Atta Abbas Naqvi,Ali Al Qarni,Aseel Fuad Al-Karasneh,Wajiha Iffat,Syed Azizullah Ghori,Azfar Ather Ishaqui,Akram Hasan Aljaffan,Saleh Alghamdi,Mohammad Aref Albanghali,Ahmad Jamal Mahrous,Muhammad Shahid Iqbal,Amer Hayat Khan,Abdul Haseeb

doi:10.1016/j.jsps.2021.09.002

Abstract

ObjectiveThe study aimed to document the quality of work life (QWL) among healthcare staff of intensive care units (ICUs) and emergency units during COVID-19 outbreak using the WHOQoL-BREF. MethodsA multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted for two months (May – June 2020) among healthcare staff working in intensive care units (ICUs) and emergency units of the hospitals under the National Guard Health Authority (NGHA) across five cities of Saudi Arabia. The study used the WHOQoL-BREF instrument to document the QWL through an electronic institutional survey. The data was analyzed through IBM SPSS version 23. The study was approved by an ethics committee. ResultsA total of 290 healthcare professionals responded to the survey. The mean overall quality of life score was 3.37 ± 0.97, general health = 3.66 ± 0.88, domains, i.e., physical = 11.67 ± 2.16, psychological = 13.08 ± 2.14, social = 13.22 ± 3.31 and environment = 12.38 ± 2.59. Respondents aged > 40 years, male gender, married status, being a physician and, having a work experience > 15 years and no extra working hours, had higher mean scores for several domains of Quality of life (QoL), overall QoL and general health (p < 0.05). ConclusionThe QWL among healthcare staff during COVID-19 pandemic was low. Demographic factors were mainly the determinants for a higher QWL while the variable of extra working hours was a determinant of lower QWL. Despite the pandemic, no COVID-19 related variables affected the work life of healthcare staff.

Highlights

MethodsThis was a multicenter cross-sectional study and was conducted for two months (May – June 2020) in intensive care units (ICUs)
Most healthcare professionals belonged to the profession of nursing (N = 179, 61.7%) and had a work experience between 10 and 15 years (85, 29.3%)
There was a significant difference in mean score for the variable of age in all domains, i.e., Physical, Psychological, Social, Environment as well as overall QoL and general health as healthcare professionals (HCPs) who were > 40 years of age had higher mean scores

Summary

Methods

This was a multicenter cross-sectional study and was conducted for two months (May – June 2020) in intensive care units (ICUs). The WHOQoL-BREF was used with authorization from the World Health Organization (WHO) (permission authorization ID: 325823) on 28th March 2020. The scale contains 26 items related to the different aspects of quality of life. The scale provides a score in four different domains of QoL namely physical, psychological, social, and environmental. It provides a score for overall QoL and general health (WHO, 1996)

Results

Discussion

Conclusion