Depression, anxiety, insomnia, and distress among health-care workers posted in COVID-19 care

Abstract

Background and Aims: Health-care professionals have been at the forefront of facing the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the stresses of dealing with patients affected by COVID-19 and concern about their own well-being are likely to lead to psychological distress among them. This study looked at depression, anxiety, insomnia, and significant distress among doctors and nurses working in COVID-19 services at a tertiary care facility. Methods: Depression, anxiety, insomnia, and significant distress were assessed through Primary Health Questionnaire-9, generalized anxiety disorder-7 scale, insomnia severity index (ISI), and impact of events scale-revised, respectively, using an online pro forma. Results: A total of 504 participants (53.2% females, 70.8% nurses) provided complete responses. Depression, anxiety, insomnia, and distress symptoms above the threshold were present in 36.7%, 29.6%, 31.9%, and 11.7% of participants, respectively. Single marital status, lack of access to appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), distance to work more than 10 km, and being diagnosed with a mental illness were independent predictors of depression. Lack of access to appropriate PPE and being diagnosed with a mental illness were independent predictors of anxiety. Lack of access to adequate PPE emerged as the only independent predictor of insomnia and significant distress symptoms, respectively. Conclusion: Considerable proportion of health-care professionals posted in COVID-19 care had symptoms of psychological distress. Addressing the concerns of health-care professionals is important and probably needs effective collaboration of mental health-care professionals and administrators.