Assessment of Stress Levels amongst Radiation Oncology Health Care Workers during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Double Centre Study

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate stress levels of health care workers in Radiation Oncology in Nepal during COVID-19. Methods: A total of 46 eligible health care workers working in radiation oncology departments of two tertiary care hospitals in Nepal were enrolled in this study from May 2020 to July 2020. The 7- item Generalized Anxiety Disorder, 9- item Patient Health Questionnaire, and 22-item Impact of Events Scale-Revised were used for assessing anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Precautionary measures are taken by the health care workers and satisfaction of organizational preparedness was also assessed. Results: Responses to the given questionnaire of all the participants were assessed. The median age was 33 years. The majority of participants had the mild impact of anxiety (70%), depression (75%), and post-traumatic stress (89%). Most of the participants (97.9%) followed hand hygiene as precautionary measures. Though anxiety and depression were mild, worry about family members getting COVID-19 was more (65.2%). Approximately half of the responders thought that organizations were concerned about their safety and necessary precautionary measures were taken. Conclusion: This survey highlighted the importance of taking measures for addressing the need of health care workers and finding out a solution to eliminating mild anxiety and depression amongst them.