ABSTRACT
Objective: The Covid-19 viral pneumonia epidemic represents a major public health issue for all hospital structures, including hospital pharmacy, which has an essential role in dealing with this crisis. This study aims to explore the level of stress perceived by hospital pharmacy staff during this pandemic. Method: This is a cross-sectional study that evaluated 82 health professionals in hospital pharmacies in Morocco, using a snowball sampling technique. It evaluated their socio-demographic characteristics, working conditions, perceived stress scale (PSS), emotions and concerns during the epidemic. Statistical analysis was performed using statistical package for social science (SPSS). Results: The majority of participants were women (74.4%) and hospital pharmacists (67%). More than half of the participants showed moderate levels of stress (73.2%). Among the variables examined, only protective measures and information about the situation via the superiors showed a significant association with the PSS value (P = 0.036) and the level of stress according to the ANOVA test and the Chi-2 test respectively. Conclusion: In this study, hospital pharmacy staff showed moderate levels of stress at the beginning of the Covid-19 epidemic. It should be noted that socio-demographic traits had no impact on stress. Consideration of social and health conditions and stress management would help reduce professional stress among hospital pharmacy staff during the pandemic.