The prevalence of common mental disorders among healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic at a tertiary Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS REPORTS 2021;
6:100246. [PMID:
34661189 PMCID:
PMC8510880 DOI:
10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100246]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Revised: 09/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/01/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Background
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in unprecedented morbidity, mortality, and health system crisis leading to a significant psychological destress on healthcare workers (HCWs). The study aimed to determine the prevalence of symptoms of common mental disorders among HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic at St. Paul's Hospital, Ethiopia.
Methods
A self-administered cross-sectional study was conducted to collect socio-demographic information and symptoms of mental disorders using validated measurement tools. Accordingly, PHQ-9, GAD-7, ISI, and IES-R were used to assess the presence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and distress, respectively. Chi-square test, non-parametric, and logistic regression analysis were used to detect risk factors for common mental disorders.
Results
A total of 420 healthcare workers participated in the survey. The prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and psychological distress was 20.2%, 21.9%, 12.4%, and 15.5% respectively. Frontline HCWs had higher scores of mental health symptoms than non-frontline healthcare workers. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that being married was associated with a high level of depression. Furthermore, working in a frontline position was an independent risk factor associated with a high-level of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and psychological distress.
Limitations
It is a single-center cross-sectional study and the findings may not be nationally representative or reveal causality.
Conclusions
A significant proportion of healthcare workers are suffering from symptoms of mental disorders. Frontline HCWs were at a greater risk of severe symptoms. Therefore, psychological interventions should be implemented to support health professionals, especially frontline workers.
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