Anxiety, Depression and Suicidality in Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Russian Study Sample of the COMET-G Project.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic healthcare workers have been under pressure of high workload and an increased risk of contracting the SARS-Cov-2 virus, while confronting the most tragic and devastating aspects of the pandemic-related medical realities. These factors could lead to severe distress with potential consequences for productivity in performing professional duties, and substantially increased risk for affective reactions, including clinical states of anxiety, depression and suicidality as compared to the general population. Thus, we aimed to investigate the changes in rates of anxiety, depression and suicidality in response to the pandemic among medical staff as compared to a sample of the general population and to the period of prepandemic time. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study is part of the large-scale, international multicentre COMET-G project. We assessed the extents of anxiety, depression and suicidality risks using the Stait-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) with a cut-off score 39/40, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) with a cut-off score 23/24, and the Risk Assessment Suicidality Scale (RASS) with a cut-off score 499/500, respectively, in samples of Russian healthcare workers and the general population. RESULTS: Among 7777 respondents participating in the study, responses to a query about occupation indicated 1216 healthcare workers. 45.8% of medical staff vs 40.4% of non-medical staff (χ2=12.42, p<0.001) reported the increased anxiety, in excess of the clinical anxiety state threshold score of 39 according to the STAI. High suicidality risks, according to a RASS score > 500, were reported by 8.2% of medical professionals vs 10.6% of non-medical personnel (χ2=6.35, p=0.012). The increase in depression rates, including cases of clinical depression according to the threshold of CES-D ≥ 24, did not differ between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: A larger proportion of healthcare system staff, as compared to the general population, reported a significant increase in anxiety in response to the pandemic. Compared to medical doctors, other healthcare system workers had a significantly higher prevalence of depression and suicidality rates. Exploratory analysis suggested that it was not the occupation per se, but rather the burden of meaningful working duties that could be associated with psychological defense mechanisms against depression and suicidality among medical staff.