Depression, Anxiety and Stress among Healthcare Workers during COVID-19 Pandemic in a Tertiary Care Centre of Nepal: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

Bikram Kafle,Sima Kafle,Samudra Pandey,Yashoda Bagale,Aabishkar Parajuli

doi:10.31729/jnma.6083

Abstract

Health personnel working in the frontline to deal with COVID 19 outbreak are at increased risk of developing psychological problems. This study aims to find out the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among Nepalese health care workers. This is a hospital based descriptive cross-sectional study conducted from July 10 2020 to September 10, 2020. All health care workers (total 280) were included in the study. HADS-14 item was used to measure anxiety and depression. Perceived stress scale was used to measure stress. Data was analyzed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software version 24.0. Statistical data was analyzed by percentage, mean and standard deviation. Out of total 270 respondents the prevalence of anxiety, depression and stress was found to be 112 (41.4%), 65 (24.1%) and 203 (74%) respectively. Females accounted for 148 (54.8%) and males 122 (45.2%). More than one third 96 (35.6%) of the health workers were working in front line. Prevalence of anxiety, depression and stress is higher among health workers when compared to similar studies. Effective strategies toward improving the mental health like adequate rest, supply of protective equipments, frequent breaks, ensuring safety issues of their family members, training on management of stress might be helpful in reducing stress.

Highlights

Health personnel working in the frontline to deal with COVID 19 outbreak are at increased risk of developing psychological problems
Out of total 156 medical health workers 104 (66.66%) had moderate to high level of stress, 58 (37.17%) had borderline to abnormal anxiety and 30 (19.12%) had depression (Table 3). Among those working as front line health workers almost two third 60 (62.4%) had perceived moderate to severe stress, one third 31 (31%) had anxiety and 17
Our study showed the prevalence of anxiety was 41.4%, depression 24.1% and 74% perceived moderate to severe stress

Summary

Introduction

Health personnel working in the frontline to deal with COVID 19 outbreak are at increased risk of developing psychological problems. This study aims to find out the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among Nepalese health care workers. COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to affect the mental health of healthcare workers (HCW), who stand in the frontline of this crisis. Immediate interventions are essential in order to enhance psychological resilience and strengthen the healthcare systems’ capacity.. People tend to experience fear of getting infected with the virus/ disease resulting in anxiety, stress, and depression.. Studies has shown that mental health of health care worker had declined during the COVID-19 outbreak, and the degree of deterioration was greater for health care worker than non health care worker..

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