Perception of COVID-19-related stigma and associated psychological challenges among healthcare workers at Cairo University hospitals.

OBJECTIVES: The current study explores the level of perceived social stigma and associated psychological challenges among healthcare workers during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 150 healthcare workers at Cairo University hospitals that were confirmed positive for COVID-19 infection. Participants were interviewed for assessment of perceived COVID-19-related stigma and associated psychological symptoms using the Patient Health Questionnaire for depression, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment for anxiety, and the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for post-traumatic stress symptoms. RESULTS: Two-thirds of participants perceived moderate-to-severe COVID-19-related stigma. Depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms were observed at varying levels in 58.0%, 38.0%, and 11.3% of participants, respectively. Female sex and occupation as a nurse were significantly associated with the total perceived COVID-19-related stigma score. COVID-19-related stigma perception significantly correlated with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. CONCLUSION: Perceived social stigma prevails among healthcare workers and is associated with numerous psychological disturbances.

Anxiety and Perceived Stress among Physicians Working a Cairo University Hospitals Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly become a major worldwide health problem. Understanding the negative psychological sequalae on working physicians either front liners or not, can reserve psychological resilience for future disease outbreaks. Aim of the study: to explore the degree of anxiety and perceived stress in junior and mid senior physicians working at Cairo University Hospitals amid the COVID 19 pandemic. Methodology: This was an online based cross-sectional study done from April to May 2021. A total of 208 physicians working at Cairo University hospitals were asked to fill in Google forms including sociodemographic and clinical data beside two reliable tools to assess anxiety using the generalized anxiety disorder questionnaire (GAD) and perceived stress using the perceived stress scale (PSS). The individual domains and the total scores were calculated then compared with the different sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Results: Most of the participants were females (66.3%), single (66.8%), not previously infected with COVID-19 (63.5%) and not included in the care of COVID 19 patients (64.9%). The mean GAD total score was 8.99 +/- 5.58 with 57.7% of the participants suffering mild to moderate anxiety. The mean PSS score was 20.76 +/- 5.3 with 80.3% found to have moderate stress. Except for the relation between gender and perceived stress (p value= 0.003), and the relation between psychiatric illness and perceived stress (p value=0.026). there was no statistical significance between anxiety and perceived stress from one side and sociodemographic and clinical data from the other side. Conclusion: Anxiety and perceived stress among physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic is considered high regardless of the different sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.

Gender Difference in Perceived Symptoms and Laboratory Investigations in Suspected and Confirmed COVID-19 Cases: A Retrospective Study.

BACKGROUND: Evaluating gender-specific effects of COVID-19 is important to develop effective therapeutic strategies. The aim of this study was to explore gender difference in perceived symptoms and laboratory investigations in suspected and confirmed cases. METHODS: This is a retrospective study that included data from suspected COVID-19 patients during the first wave of the pandemic. Participants using the phone triaging system at Kasralainy outpatient clinics were included. The analyzed data included patient history and results of nasopharyngeal swab and laboratory data. RESULTS: Out of 440 COVID-19 suspected cases, 56.36% were females. The perceived COVID-19 symptoms showed no significant gender difference in suspected cases while in confirmed cases females were 4 times more likely to complain of cough [OR (95% CI) 3.92 (1.316-11.68), P-value .014] and 5 times more likely to experience loss of smell or taste [OR (95% CI) 4.84 (1.62-14.43), P-value .005]. Laboratory markers revealed high levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, blood urea, serum creatinine, creatine kinase, and serum ferritin in males and this was statistically significant (P-value <.001) in suspected and confirmed cases. Females confirmed with COVID-19 were 80%, 97%, and 97% less likely to have high levels of ALT, creatin kinase, and serum ferritin [OR (95% CI) 0.20 (0.07-0.54), 0.07 (0.01-0.38), and 0.07 (0.01-0.90), P-value .002, .002, and .041, respectively]. CONCLUSION: Gender differences were found in laboratory markers in COVID-19 suspected and confirmed cases and in perceived symptoms in confirmed cases.