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Levels of anxiety, depression and stress among health care workers during the COVID19 pandemic: Study conducted at the University Hospital Farhat Hached of Sousse-Tunisia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2023

N. Belhadj Chabbah
Affiliation:
Department of Occupational Medicine, Farhat Hached” University Hospital Center, Sousse, Tunisia
S. Chatti
Affiliation:
Department of Occupational Medicine, Farhat Hached” University Hospital Center, Sousse, Tunisia
Z. Athimni*
Affiliation:
Department of Occupational Medicine, Farhat Hached” University Hospital Center, Sousse, Tunisia
M. Bouhoula
Affiliation:
Department of Occupational Medicine, Farhat Hached” University Hospital Center, Sousse, Tunisia
A. Chouchane
Affiliation:
Department of Occupational Medicine, Farhat Hached” University Hospital Center, Sousse, Tunisia
A. Aloui
Affiliation:
Department of Occupational Medicine, Farhat Hached” University Hospital Center, Sousse, Tunisia
I. Kacem
Affiliation:
Department of Occupational Medicine, Farhat Hached” University Hospital Center, Sousse, Tunisia
M. Maoua
Affiliation:
Department of Occupational Medicine, Farhat Hached” University Hospital Center, Sousse, Tunisia
A. Brahem
Affiliation:
Department of Occupational Medicine, Farhat Hached” University Hospital Center, Sousse, Tunisia
H. Kalboussi
Affiliation:
Department of Occupational Medicine, Farhat Hached” University Hospital Center, Sousse, Tunisia
O. Elmaalel
Affiliation:
Department of Occupational Medicine, Farhat Hached” University Hospital Center, Sousse, Tunisia
N. Mrizek
Affiliation:
Department of Occupational Medicine, Farhat Hached” University Hospital Center, Sousse, Tunisia
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

During the COVID-19 pandemic, health care workers found themselves threatened by developing psychological effects.

Objectives

The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of exposure to COVID-19 on the mental health of medical and paramedical staff at Farhat Hached Hospital in Sousse and to identify potential risk factors.

Methods

This is a descriptive cross-sectional study that included 166 health care workers of Farhat Hached Hospital of Sousse throughout 3 months. The patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9), the generalized anxiety disorder (GAD-7), and the revised event impact scale (IES- R) were used to assess depression, anxiety, and stress respectively.

Results

The mean age of the participants was 37.06 ±11.07 years with a female predominance (80.1%). The median professional seniority was 7.5 years with extremes ranging from 1 to 39 years. Nurses were the most represented (34.3%) followed by medical residents (24.7%). PHQ-9, GAD-7, and IES- R scores revealed that 51.8%, 40.4%, and 28.3% of participants had moderate or severe levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. Personal history of psychiatric disorders was significantly associated with depression (p<10-3) and anxiety (p=0.004). On the other hand, paramedical staff had a significantly higher risk of experiencing symptoms of depression (OR = 2.40 ; 95% CI [1.28-4.48] ; p= 0.006) and stress (OR = 2.03 ; 95% CI [1.01-4.11] ; p= 0.04) than medical personnel.

Conclusions

This study reported a high prevalence of symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress among health care workers. Improving mental well-being and providing psychological support to health care workers is recommended.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Type
Abstract
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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