Depression, anxiety and stress among healthcare workers in COVID-19 ICUs

Abstract

Background & Objective: In most of the countries, the intensive care, airway management, and emergency resuscitation teams are largely constituted of the anesthetists, laying a great deal of physical, mental, and emotional pressure on them. In the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the anesthetists have been on the fore-front. We compared the level of anxiety, depression, and stress among healthcare workers (HCWs) of COVID-19 ICU and non-COVID ICUs in the tertiary care hospitals of south Punjab.

Methodology: It was a cross-sectional study that included DASS-21 and GHQ-12 online questionnaires.

Results: Out of 100 participants, 31% were in the COVID ICU group and 69% in the non-COVID ICU group. Females were 54% of the total. 55% of the participants were below 30 y of age, 77% were married, and 48% were post-graduates. Overall 50% of HCWs had a probable psychological illness, while 25% had anxiety, 21% depression and 12% had stress. Anxiety, depression, and stress were more in COVID ICU group as compared to the non-COVID group [(35% vs. 20%), (32% vs. 16%) and (31% vs. 3%) respectively].

Conclusion: Coronavirus pandemic has affected the mental health of healthcare workers. Those working in COVID ICUs are more prone to develop psychological distress than non-COVID ICU healthcare workers.

Key words: Depression; Anxiety; Stress; COVID-19; Mental distress; Healthcare workers; ICU

Citation: Sadaf S, Mussrat R, Bashir B. Depression, anxiety and stress among healthcare workers in COVID-19 ICUs. Anaesth. pain intensive care 2022;26(2): 217-223; DOI: 10.35975/apic.v26i2.1835

Received: Jan 23, 2021, Reviewed: July 16, 2021, Accepted: July 19, 2021