Abstract
During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ecuador was one of the countries most impacted globally. High instances of corruption, widespread COVID-19 fatalities and cases, and a strained health care system impacted Ecuadorian healthcare providers’ occupational responsibilities and environment. The psychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on Ecuadorian healthcare providers are limited. The aim of this study is to evaluate the psychological impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Ecuadorian health care providers’ anxiety. A nationwide survey of 293 physicians, nurses, and health care workers in Ecuador was conducted to understand their self-reported anxiety as measured by the Zung self-reported anxiety scale. Our findings suggest the overall mean sample score (M = 39.14, SD = 8.17) was just under the clinical anxiety threshold. Additionally, a majority (63%, n = 114) of the sample appeared to meet the clinical threshold for anxiety highlighting the significant psychological toll of the COVID-19 crisis on health care workers. Explanatory factors and future policy and research recommendations are discussed.
Highlights
Efectos iniciales de la pandemia de COVID-19 en la ansiedad autoinformada por los proveedores de servicios de salud ecuatorianos
Data suggest that COVID-19 related stress and poor working conditions have resulted in greater psychological distress amongst healthcare professionals (Marvaldi et al, 2021; Navarro et al 2020)
Significance tests are conducted on raw self-reported anxiety scale (SAS) scores, we report percentages exceeding the recommended SAS cut-off, which indicates the proportion in each group experiencing clinically significant anxiety levels (Dunstan & Scott 2020)
Summary
Efectos iniciales de la pandemia de COVID-19 en la ansiedad autoinformada por los proveedores de servicios de salud ecuatorianos. La mayoría (63%, n = 114) de la muestra alcanzó el umbral clínico de ansiedad, destacando el alto costo psicológico para los trabajadores de la salud durante la pandemia de COVID. As of July 2020, Ecuador was one of the countries with the highest number of fatalities of healthcare professionals (Amnesty International 2020) The Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security (IESS) reported that as of June 2020 at least 2,000 healthcare workers quit due to pandemic related risks, working conditions, and concerns over feeling unprotected (France 24, 2020). Data suggest that COVID-19 related stress and poor working conditions have resulted in greater psychological distress amongst healthcare professionals (Marvaldi et al, 2021; Navarro et al 2020). There is limited research of this kind on culturally similar populations (Tusev et al 2020), international studies indicate concerns about healthcare providers’ anxiety, stress, fear, frustration, depression, insomnia, post-traumatic stress, and anger (Marvaldi et al 2021; Garcia-Iglesias et al 2020; Spoorthy et al 2020; Sahebi et al 2021)
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