Mental Health Support Program for Healthcare Professionals in a Pandemic Hospital in Turkey and Its Results on Anxiety, Depression, Insomnia and Sexual Disorders.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has put enormous stress on the health care workers, threatening not only their physical health but also their mental well-being. No mental health support program (MHSP) addressing depression and anxiety in healthcare workers (HCWs), has been shown to be effective in Turkey previously. We aimed to measure the effect of our MHSP among healthcare workers who applied for psychological help associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: An MHSP has been created for healthcare professionals working in a pandemic hospital during the COVID-19 period. Health workers were recruited between July and September 2020. Anxiety, depression, and insomnia levels were evaluated with HAM-A (Hamilton Anxiety Scale), HDRS (Hamilton Depression Scale), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) before and after the intervention. Sexual complaints were questioned by a consultant psychiatrist. MHSP (n=31), and treatment as usual (TAU, n=27) groups were compared using repeated-measures ANOVA. RESULTS: Sociodemographic data, medical history of COVID-19, and psychiatric diagnoses were similar between the groups. There was no difference in baseline HAM-A, HDRS, and ISI scores (p>0.05). At the end of the study, there was a significant difference between study groups regarding anxiety scores (For post-treatment, MHSP=8.0±2.6 vs. TAU=17.9±3.1, p<0.001) and depression symptoms (For post-treatment, MHSP=8.8±2.7 vs. TAU=20.0±2.4, p<0.001) but not in insomnia levels (For post-treatment, MHSP=6.5±2.4 vs. TAU=7.3±2.4, p=0.499). Likewise, both groups reported similar levels of improvement in reduced sexual drive. CONCLUSIONS: Our study results suggest that the MHSP effectively alleviates the psychiatric complaints of healthcare professionals. It is recommended to have mental support teams for healthcare professionals in hospitals.