Mental stress, and burnout among COVID warriors – A new healthcare crisis

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 has put the healthcare workers in an unprecedented situation where they must care for patients while facing a shortage of protective equipment and risk of infection. COVID-19 has put tremendous pressure on healthcare workers, making them prone to burnout, depression, stress, and anxiety. Aim: To provide data on the prevalence of burnout and the physical and psychological symptoms among healthcare workers employed at COVID centres and to assess the relationship between burnout and the psychological and physical symptoms Methodology: An online questionnaire comprising of: demographics, physical symptoms, burnout (Copenhagen Burnout inventory), and DASS-21 (Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale) was sent to 580 healthcare workers. Responses from 512 healthcare workers were received. Results: 512 healthcare workers participated in the study, with a mean age of 29 years. Among the study population, 84.3% showed physical symptoms with a change in food habits being the commonest symptom (61.5%). On the CBI questionnaire, 34.3% of the participants met the criteria of burnout. On the DASS-21 questions, 48.6% showed evidence of depression, 41.3% showed evidence of stress, and 14.2% showed evidence of stress—a positive correlation between the CBI score and high score in each subscale of DASS-21. A positive correlation between symptoms and CBI score and duration of work in COVID care and symptoms experienced was found. Conclusion: There is significant physical and psychological morbidity and burnout among healthcare workers. Active steps need to be taken to address the stressors to prevent long-term effects among these frontline workers