Factors associated with the development of stress, anxiety and depression in the context of COVID-19 pandemic in Peruvian healthcare facilities

Abstract

To describe the sociodemographic characteristics and determine the factors associated with psychological manifestations of depression, anxiety, and stress in healthcare workers in the context of COVID-19 pandemic in health facilities in Peru during the month of May 2020. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted out in healthcare workers of hospital establishments in Peru. To evaluate the outcome of interest, we administered a structured questionnaire that asked about type of healthcare personnel; sociodemographic characteristics; Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7); Patient Health Questionnaire scale (PHQ-9); and the Revised Stressor Impact scale (IES-R). We used generalized linear Poisson models, with a logarithmic link function and robust variance. Out of 258 respondents, 254 completed the survey; 61.8% were women; the most common work area was emergency department or hospitalization (inpatient) services (62.2%). The median PHQ-9 score was 4 points (IQR: 2-7); for the GAD-7, it was 6 points (IQR: 4-8), and for the IES-R, 16 points (IQR: 8-24). The multivariate analysis showed that being a physician was associated with less anxiety (PR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.62-0.94), whereas living alone was associated with a greater risk of depression (PR: 1.46; 95% CI: 1.11-1.92). Healthcare personnel are at risk of manifesting psychological alterations, mainly associated with the female gender, non-medical personnel and living alone.