Perceived stress and associated factors among health care professionals working in the context of COVID-19 pandemic in public health institutions of southern Ethiopia 2020.

INTRODUCTION: Health care professionals are at higher risk of developing stress-related problems during outbreaks, due to the overwhelming clinical workload, fear of contagion, and inadequate protective gears. So, in order to monitoring mental health issues and to understand the factors evidence-based interventions is important. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess perceived stress and associated factors among health care professionals working in the context of COVID-19, Southern Ethiopia. METHODS: Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 798 health care professionals from the 1st May to 1st June 2020. The study participants were selected using simple random sampling technique after allocating a proportion to each health institute based on the size of health care professionals. A pre-tested and structured interviewer-administered questionnaire using KOBO collect survey tool was used to collect data. A total score of >20 points was considered as the cut off for experiencing perceived stress based on perceived stress scale. Both bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis were performed to identify associated factors. The level of statistical significance was set at a p-value of less than 0.05 in multivariable logistic regression. RESULT: Nearly two-thirds 61.8% (95% CI: 58.4%, 65.2%) of HCPs had perceived stress. Not having COVID-19 updated information (AOR = 2.41, 95% CI: 1.31, 4.43), not at all confident on coping with stress (AOR = 9.94, 95% CI:3.74, 26.41), somewhat confident in coping with stress (AOR = 4.69, 95% CI:2.81, 7.84), moderately confident on coping with stress (AOR = 2.36, 95% CI: 1.46, 3.82), and not getting along well with people (AOR = 4.88, 95% CI: 1.42, 16.72) were positively association with perceived stress. However, feeling overwhelmed by the demand of everyday life (AOR = 0.52 95% CI: 0.35, 0.77) and worrying about what other people think about them (AOR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.24, 0.81) were negatively associated with perceived stress. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 update, confidence in coping with stress, getting along with people, worrying about what other people think about them, and feeling overwhelmed by the demand of everyday life were factors significantly associated with perceived stress. The provision of COVID-19 update to HCPs along with wider strategies to support their psychological wellbeing is vital.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Its Associated Factors Among Health Care Workers Fighting COVID-19 in Southern Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are among the many groups of people who are in the frontline caring for people and facing heavy workloads, life-or-death decisions, risk of infection, and have been facing various psychosocial problems. So, monitoring mental health issues to understand the mediating factors and inform evidence-based interventions in a timely fashion is vital. PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess generalized anxiety disorder and its associated factors among HCWs fighting COVID-19 in Southern Ethiopia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 798 HCWs from 20 May to 20 June 2020. A pre-tested and structured interviewer-administered KOBO collect survey tool was used to collect data. The study participants were selected using a simple random sampling technique by allocating a proportion to each health institute. The association between the level of generalized anxiety disorder and its independent variables was examined by ordinal logistic regression. Assumptions for the proportional odds model were checked using parallel line tests. An adjusted proportional odds ratio with a 95% CI was used to calculate the strength of the statistical association between the independent and dependent variables. RESULTS: The prevalence of mild and moderate anxiety disorder among HCWs was 29.3% and 6.3%, respectively. Contact with confirmed or suspected cases (aPOR =1.97; 95% CI: 1.239, 3.132), no COVID-19 updates (aPOR=4.816, 95% CI=2.957, 7.842), no confidence on coping with stresses (aPOR=2.74, 95% CI=1.633, 4.606), and COVID-19-related worry (aPOR=1.85, 95% CI=1.120, 3.056) were positively associated with higher-order anxiety disorder. However, not feeling overwhelmed by the demands of everyday life (aPOR=0.52, 95% CI=0.370, 0.733) and feeling cannot make it (aPOR=0.44, 95% CI=0.308, 0.626) were negatively associated with a higher order of anxiety. CONCLUSION: The study revealed that the prevalence of anxiety disorder among HCWs was high in the study area. The findings of the current study suggest immediate psychological intervention for health care workers in the study area is vital. Therefore, proactive measures should be taken by the stakeholders at different hierarchies to promote the psychological wellbeing of HCWs in order to control the impact of the pandemic on the HCWs, and containing the pandemic.