ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has caused havoc in the lives of doctors. The doctors were faced with the Herculean task of managing a variety of patients, dealing with the queries of their loved ones, keeping up with the ever-changing guidelines, while balancing the worries of their own families, and facing the risk of contracting the infection themselves or transmitting it to their loved ones. Bearing this in mind, the present study was undertaken to assess the impact of gender in causing depression, anxiety, stress, and sleep disturbances between male and female doctors during COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional, analytical, web-based study was conducted during September 2020, after obtaining approval of Institutional Ethics Committee. All participants gave informed consent. The participants completed basic socio demographic questionnaire, and two standardized questionnaires-Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 (DASS21) and Athens Insomnia Scale. Out of 143 doctors included in the study, 83 were females (58.04%), while 60 were males (41.96%). On DASS-21, depression and stress was significantly higher in female doctors as compared to male doctors. On the Athens Insomnia Scale, more female doctors suffered from insomnia as compared to male doctors, but the difference was not statistically significant. Female doctors have significantly higher depression and stress while dealing with COVID-19 compared to male doctors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)