The mental health of the health care professionals in India during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in dramatic challenges to healthcare systems worldwide. There has been an increased awareness to protect frontline workers from COVID-19 exposure and its consequences. To assess the prevalence of healthcare professionals in India during the COVID-19, a cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted with healthcare professionals from medical colleges and hospitals from different states across the country. The study comprised 772 healthcare professionals aged >= 18 years. The main outcome measures studied were anxiety, depression, and stress. Among the healthcare professionals, 37.17%, 33.68%, and 23.7% were reported to have anxiety, depression, and stress respectively. The physicians, female, aged population, and professionals sleeping less than 7 hours are more prone to psychological problems. The results of this study predict the high levels of anxiety, depression, and stress among healthcare professionals in different states of India. Increased COVID-19 cases, high pressure, workload, and lack of training are the main reasons for the psychological problems in healthcare professionals. Proper strategies must be followed in healthcare settings to reduce the burden of stress.