Anxiety Levels and Associated Factors Among Emergency Department Personnel Fighting COVID-19

Year 2020, Volume: 10 Issue: 4, 556 - 561, 30.12.2020

Ekrem Taha Sert , Hüseyin Mutlu , Kamil Kokulu , Ayhan Sarıtaş

https://doi.org/10.16899/jcm.780820

Cited By: 4

Abstract

Aim: We aimed to determine anxiety levels of the emergency department (ED) personnel working in close contact with infected patients and potential risk factors associated with this anxiety.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, hospital-based study was conducted among healthcare personnel working at the ED of the tertiary healthcare hospital in question, who are directly involved in the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients. The participants were administered a questionnaire that included items on sociodemographic characteristics; items on health, social, and demographic factors considered to be related with anxiety; and the 40 items of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).
Results: The study included 138 healthcare professionals. In total, 29.7% of the participants were female and 70.3% were male. The minimum and maximum ages of the participants were 21 and 52 years, respectively, with a median age of 33 (27–40) years. The mean STAI-S and STAI-T scores of healthcare professionals included in the study were 45.4 ± 10.4 and 41.3 ± 7.3, respectively. The effect of women nurses and having children, on anxiety levels was found to be significantly high. Comparing the groups categorized for their compliance with COVID-19-related measures, the state anxiety scores of the “somewhat compliant” group were found to be higher. Participants with the perception that measures taken and institution’s available capacity were insufficient were found to have statistically significantly higher STAI-S scores than the others (p < 0.001)
Conclusion: Maintaining mental health of healthcare personnel during a pandemic is vital to better control contagious diseases. Thus, exclusive effort should be made to maintain mental well-being of healthcare professionals being exposed to COVID-19.

Keywords

COVID-19, anxiety, healthcare personnel, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

Supporting Institution

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Project Number

This study protocol was approved by Clinical Research Ethical Committee of the Faculty of Medicine of Aksaray University with a protocol number of 2020-03/55 and conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and Good Clinical Practices.

Thanks

The authors thank all the participants in this study

COVİD-19 ile Mücadele Eden Acil Servis Çalışanlarının Anksiyete Düzeyi ve Etkileyen Faktörler

Abstract

Amaç: Bu çalışma enfekte hastalar ile yakın temasta bulunan acil servis(AS) çalışanlarında var olabilecek kaygı düzeylerini ve bunlarla ilişkili potansiyel risk faktörlerini belirlemek amacıyla yapılmıştır.
Yöntem: Bu çalışma COVID-19 hastalarının tanı, tedavileriyle doğrudan ilgilenen hastanemiz üçüncü basamak AS’de çalışan sağlık çalışanları arasında yapılmış kesitsel, hastane temelli bir çalışmadır. Araştırma kapsamında kişilere; sosyo-demografik özellikler (yaş, cinsiyet, medeni durum, çocuk sahibi olup/olmadığı, aile ile birlikte yaşama, eğitim düzeyleri, meslek durumu), kaygı ile ilişkili olduğu düşünülen sağlık, sosyal ve demografik faktörler (sigara kullanımı, kronik hastalığı olup/olmadığı, çalışma ortamındaki tedbirlerin yeterli olup/olmadığı, çalışma ortamından memnuniyeti ve COVİD-19 nedeni ile alınan tedbirlere uyumu) ve Durumluk-Sürekli Kaygı Envanteri’nden (STAI) oluşan 40 soruluk anket uygulanmıştır.
Bulgular: Çalışmaya, doğrudan COVID-19 olan veya olduğundan şüphelenilen hastaların tanı ve tedavisinin yapıldığı AS bölümdeki 138 sağlık çalışanı dahil edildi. Çalışmaya katılan bireylerin %29.7’si (n=41) kadın, %70.3’ü (n=97) erkek idi. Katılımcıların yaşları en küçük 21 en büyük ise 52, medyan 33 (27-40) idi. Araştırma kapsamına alınan sağlık çalışanlarının STAI-S ortalama skoru 45.4±10.4, STAI-T ortalama skoru 41.3±7.3 olarak bulunmuştur. Kadın, hemşire olmak ve çocuk sahibi olmanın anksiyete düzeyi üzerindeki etkisi anlamlı olarak daha yüksek bulunmuştur. Katılımcıların durumluk/sürekli kaygı ölçek puanları COVİD-19 nedeniyle alınan tedbirlere uyumlarına göre oluşturulan gruplar arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı derecede farklıydı (p<0.001). Alınan tedbirleri ve kurumun mevcut kapasite durumunu yetersiz olarak düşünen katılımcılarda STAI-S puanları istatistiksel olarak anlamlı düzeyde daha yüksek saptandı (p<0.001)
Sonuç: Salgın döneminde sağlık personelin ruh sağlığını korumak bulaşıcı hastalıkları daha iyi kontrol etmek için gereklidir. COVID-19'a maruz kalan sağlık çalışanlarının zihinsel açıdan sağlıklı kalabilmesi konusunda özel dikkat gösterilmesi gerekmektedir

Keywords

COVID-19, anksiyete, sağlık personeli, durumluk sürekli kaygı envanteri

Project Number

This study protocol was approved by Clinical Research Ethical Committee of the Faculty of Medicine of Aksaray University with a protocol number of 2020-03/55 and conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and Good Clinical Practices.

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