The prevalence of mental distress changes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a study on physicians in Turkey

Abstract

Background The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic may adversely affect the physicians’ mental health differently.Aims This study aimed to investigate the degree of changes in mental distress in physicians through two cross-sectional studies before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and explore factors associated with the change of mental distress status of participants between two-time periods.Methods This cross-sectional, web-based survey collected demographic data and mental health measurements with the 12-item General Health Questionnaire from 416 and 522 physicians before and during COVID-19, respectively. Mixed-effects ordinal logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the factors associated with the change of mental distress status.Results During the outbreak, a total of 319 of the 522 participants reported a clinically significant level of mental distress compared with 123 of 416 participants before COVID-19. Higher levels of mental distress were observed in all socio-demographic groups during COVID-19 compared with before, with more than two-fold higher prevalence of mental health deterioration in general.ConclusionsThis study suggests a significant deterioration in mental health status after the occurrence of COVID-19 compared with before. The mental health of physicians working in all medical specialty groups, especially those in internal and surgical specialties, may require special attention.