Mental Health Burden among Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Time in Albania

ABSTRACT

Healthcare staff that operated at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 hence faced enormous physical and mental pressures. We aim to investigate the mental health situation among physicians and other medical employees in Albania. A cross sectional and descriptive survey was conducted from September 2020 to January 2021 time when COVID-19 in Albania was at its peak. X2/Fisher exact test was used;a significant association between level of mental health and survey characteristics was made. P-value<0.05, while medical employees who work in Tirana had a higher significant score than those living in other regions p<0.05. Nurses and medical doctors were significantly more likely to report depressive symptoms compared to other medical employees chi 2 =85.2, 95% CI, a p-value of <0.05 than radiologists, stemmatologists, and pharmacists. Furthermore, the younger age groups <= 40 years and >55 were more prone to report likely fair, stress, and depressive symptoms compared to other ages (p-value=0.042). This study reports a high level of fair and stress and mild to moderate burdens of depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, studies with a large sample size to include all medical staff nationwide need to identify and evaluate mental health among medical staff in Albania. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 24 (1) January, 2023;1-13.