A Longitudinal Study to Reexamine the Mental Health Impact on Radiation Oncology Health Care Workers with the Launch of COVID-19 Vaccination Strategies in India

ABSTRACT

Introduction The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) catastrophe caused significant mental threats to health care workers (HCW), especially during the first wave of the pandemic. India successfully implemented vaccination strategies in January 2021 that is likely to ameliorate the mental health impact of HCWs. The current survey aims to identify the change in impact following vaccination and address the issues affecting mental health. Objective The primary objective is to reevaluate the stress levels of radiation oncology HCWs with vaccine implementation and compare it with the mental health status at the onset of the pandemic. The secondary objective is to identify the current causative factors influencing mental health. Materials and Methods Health care workers who participated in the initial mental health impact survey at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic from May to July 2020 were included in this study. Two hundred eligible HCWs were reassessed of the total 363 initial assessments. The 7-item Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and 22-item Impact of Events Scale-revised (IES-R) was again served for assessing anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. The Mc Nemar test was used to evaluate the change and significance of the mental health impact. Univariate and multivariate analyses were done to identify the causative factors affecting mental health. Results The cohort's median age was 30 years (interquartile range [IQR] 27-33). The incidence of moderate-to-severe level anxiety, depression, and stress significantly declined to 6.5% ( p = 0.031), 9% ( p = 0.01), and 19% ( p < 0.001) compared with 39.5, 40.5, and 30.5% during the pandemic onset. On further analysis, HCWs with affected family members had higher levels of stress ( p = 0.002). The rest of the parameters did not have significant impact on mental health outcomes. Conclusion With public education, awareness, and vaccination strategies, the second follow-up survey conducted after vaccine implementation demonstrated a significant number of HCWs in the radiation oncology community, exhibiting a decline in the incidence of anxiety, depression, and stress levels compared with the initial wave of the pandemic.