Psychological Morbidity of the COVID-19 Second Wave in Health-care Workers: A Cross-sectional Online Survey

Abstract

During the first wave of the pandemic, health-care workers (HCWs) experienced high levels of stress, depression, and anxiety. These frontline workers remained a vulnerable group with the second wave of the pandemic being more severe than the first wave across the globe. There is a need to assess the psychological impact of the second wave of COVID-19 on HCWs and identify risk factors associated with higher morbidity. This will be beneficial in planning appropriate prevention and remedial measures. Consecutive 1275 HCWs (between the age group of 18 and 60 years) responded to the online survey. After the collection of sociodemographic data, participants were administered the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale. Moderate-to-severe stress, depression, and anxiety were reported by 40%, 31.7%, and 24.3% of participants, respectively. Regression analysis revealed that female gender, nurses, high COVID-19 exposure, history of COVID-19, chronic medical illness, and work experience between 10 and 20 years were risk factors for increased psychological morbidity. This study demonstrates that stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms remained high among HCWs during the second wave of COVID-19. Certain risk factors predicted higher mental health morbidity. There is a need to develop appropriate interventions targeting these groups.