Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Health of Healthcare Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study From Pakistan.

Background: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly increased the rate of mortality and morbidity worldwide due to its rapid transmission rate. The mental health status of individuals could have a negative impact attributed to this global situation. Therefore, this study was intended to explore the symptoms of depression and anxiety among healthcare workers (HCWs) of Pakistan during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken by administering a web-based questionnaire between May and June 2020. Two tools, including the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), were employed to measure anxiety and depression symptoms among HCWs. The data analyses were carried out using descriptive statistics, Man Whitney, and Kruskal Wallis tests. Results: Of 1094 HCWs who participated in this online survey, 742 (67.8%) were physicians, followed by nurses (n = 277, 25.3%) and pharmacists (n = 75, 6.9%). The survey respondents had a median depression and anxiety score of 5.00 (7.00-3.00) and 8.00 (11.00-5.00), respectively. A considerable number of HCWs (82.2%) utilized online psychological resources to deal with their psychological distress. Female HCWs, nurses, frontline HCWs, and HCWs aged 30-49 years were more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety (p < 0.05). Conclusion: During the recent ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, there is a mild level of symptoms of depression and anxiety among HCWs. Our findings call for urgent psychological interventions for vulnerable groups of Pakistani HCWs.

Impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on mental health status and associated factors among general population: a cross-sectional study from Pakistan.

The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has significantly affected the mental health of people globally. This study aimed to investigate the mental health status and associated factors among residents of Pakistan. An online questionnaire survey was conducted from April 3 to May 7, 2020, using convenience and snowball sampling techniques. Data regarding demographics, physical health status and contact history during the last 2 weeks were collected. Furthermore, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scales (DASS-21) were utilized to measure the mental health of the participants. The analyses included descriptive statistics and regression analysis. Of the 1663 participants who completed this survey, 1598 met the inclusion criteria. The results revealed mild to moderate depression among 390 participants (24.4%), mild to moderate anxiety among 490 participants (30.7%) and mild to moderate stress among 52 participants (3.3%). A majority of the participants rated their health as good (n = 751, 47.0%). Moreover, students reported significantly higher scores on depression (B = 1.29, 95% CI = 0.71-1.88; p < 0.05), anxiety (B = 0.56, 95% CI = -0.06 to 1.18; p < 0.05) and stress (B = 0.56, 95% CI = -0.12 to 1.23; p < 0.05). Physical symptoms, including fever, cough and myalgia, and contact history in the last 14 days reported significant associations with depression, anxiety and stress (p < 0.05). The mental health status of the people was noted to be affected during the COVID-19 outbreak. Assessment of several factors with significant associations with depression, anxiety and stress may aid in developing psychological interventions for vulnerable groups.