Mental Health Consequences of Covid-19 among Health Care Workers in Abbottabad

ABSTRACT

Objective: To compare the mental health impact and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder between medical and paramedical staff using DASS-21 and IES scale respectively and to find association of mental impact of COVID-19 with socio-demographic variables. Study Design: Analytical cross sectional study Place and Duration of Study This study was conducted at the Department of Medicine, Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad for 16 months from June, 2020 to October, 2021. Materials and Methods: Carried out on 150 health care workers of Ayub Teaching Hospital. Data was collected by using two validated questionnaires DASS and IES scales. Analysis was conducted by SPSS version 20. Independent sample t test was used for comparison of scores between medical and paramedical staff while chi square test of association was used to find association of mental impact with socio-demographic variables. P value of ≤0.05 was considered significant. Results: The mean age of the health care workers was 30.01±6.62 years. Out of 150 participants, 105 (70%) were doctors, 45 (30%) were paramedics. Male to female ratio was 11. Overall mean depression score accounted for 8.81±8.26;anxiety score was 7.94±7.86;stress score was 12.60±9.02 and mean PTSD score was 24.76±16.40. A statistically significant difference was observed between medical and paramedical staff for stress (p=0.002) and PTSD (p=0.05). Stress was found to be significantly associated with category of health workers (p<0.001) while anxiety with gender (p=0.04). Conclusion: Substantial impact of COVID-19 on mental health of healthcare workers was found during Covid-19. © 2022 Medical Forum Monthly. All rights reserved.