Psychological Distress and Coping Strategies Among Clinicians and Medical Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-sectional Study in Guilan, Iran

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic can lead to psychological distress among clinicians and medical students due to the possibility of disease transmission and closure of educational centers. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the extent of psychological distress and coping strategies among clinicians and medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Rasht, Iran. Methods: Using the Kessler Psychological Distress scale (K10), this cross-sectional analytical study evaluated psychological distress and coping strategies among 109 clinicians and medical students working in Razi Hospital of Rasht, Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic. The K10 scale has 10 items with a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (never) to 5 (always); the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated as 0.771. Also, to examine the coping strategies, a 10-item researcher-made checklist was used (CVI = 0.79; CVR = 0.82). The questionnaires were distributed by e-mail from May to June, 2020. After entering the data into SPSS software (version 20), the data were analyzed using appropriate statistical tests. Results: The mean age of the responders was 36.14 years (SD = 10.68). The mean K10 total scores was 12.94 (SD = 7.64). There was a significant negative correlation between age and K10 total scores (r = -0.397, P < 0.001). Single participants had a higher K10 total score compared with married ones (P = 0.003). Furthermore, interns had a higher K10 total score compared with residents (P = 0.012) and faculty members (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Since interns are at a higher risk of psychological distress due to less work experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, continuous monitoring of psychological distress and teaching coping strategies in crisis situations should be included in the training curriculum and educational courses of this group.