Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms and Persistent Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Professionals of Pakistan (A Cross-Sectional Multicenter Survey Based Study)

Abstract

Background: Highly stressful events like epidemics and pandemics lead to significant chronic psychological burden especially in vulnerable populations like health professionals. Few studies have been carried out during COVID-19 pandemic to find the prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in health professionals in low income countries. It is important assess the magnitude of this problem in order to formulate effective coping strategies. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional survey was carried out in multiple cities from August to October across Pakistan. Doctors, nurses, and allied healthcare staff working in primary, secondary, and tertiary clinical setups during the outbreak were requested to fill a questionnaire including demographic details, Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R), and 21 items Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) both in English and Urdu language for better understanding of allied healthcare staff. Results: Overall 28.8% healthcare professionals had self-reported symptoms of post -traumatic stress disorder and 17.3% had severe PTSS. 22.75% participants had moderate to extremely severe depression, 33.75% had moderate to extremely severe anxiety, and 12% reported moderate to extremely severe stress. Conclusions: Even after the peak phase of the pandemic was over, its mental health impact persisted specially in health professionals. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) appear gradually and can lead to significant physical co-morbidities like musculoskeletal pain and heart problems. There is a need to formulate proper protocols at the national and international level to prevent and manage these issues in future. Funding: The authors received no funding from any organization or financial body.Declaration of Interests: The authors have no competing interests to declare.Ethics Approval Statement: Survey based research was conducted after taking permission from ethical review board of Rawalpindi Medical University Rawalpindi and Medical Teaching Institution Bacha Khan Medical College Mardan both of which are recognized by National Bioethical Committee Pakistan. Institutional permissions for data collection were obtained from all institutes where the printed forms were distributed. A detailed informed consent was obtained from each participant.