Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety among Doctors Working in Emergency Units in Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia, 2021

Abstract

Background: Depression and anxiety are familiar for most people these days . Almost no one in this world is free from these “Anxiety” and “Depression”. Demanding profession has been associated with poor psychological health due to multiple factors such as overworking hours and night shifts.
 Objective: To estimate the prevalence of Depression and anxiety among doctors working in emergency units in Almadinah, 2021 and to correlate the level of Depression and anxiety according sociodemographic variations and work-related variation. 
 Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Al-Madinah city. All doctors who working in emergency department in governmental and private hospitals in Al-Madinah City during the study period was included. All doctors start working in emergency department less than two weeks and doctors who specialized other than Emergency Medicine were excluded.
 Results: the score of depression level was normal in 46.5% of our participants, abnormal in 26.2% and borderline abnormal in 27.2%. The score of anxiety level was normal in 23.3% of our participants and borderline abnormal in 26.7% and was abnormal in 50.0%. There is significant correlation between anxiety and marital status, number of children, average monthly income, hospital type, position and specialty (P<0.05). There is significant correlation between anxiety and nationality, number of children, average monthly income, hospital type, position and specialty (P<0.05).
 Conclusion: We have shown that ER physicians are at high risk of experiencing anxiety and depressive symptoms. There is significant correlation between anxiety and depression and number of children, average monthly income, hospital type, position and specialty.