Psychological impact of COVID 19 on confirmed positive health care workers of a selected government hospital

Abstract

Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an emerging infection causing a widely spread pandemic of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The current COVID-2019 pandemic is prompting fear of falling sick, dying, helplessness and stigma, urgent and timely understanding of mental health status of the people who are infected with COVID-19 is needed both from medical and non-medical professionals. Our investigation designed to survey the psychological impact of COVID-19 on confirmed positive health care workers of a selected government hospital, Dubai. UAE Methods: During the later months of the year 2021, we conducted an online-based survey using a purposive sample technique. The surveys collected data about aspects of participant sociodemographic, psychological impact, and mental health status. We assessed the psychological impact and mental health status using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Results: Our survey recruited 117 respondents of the both medical and non-medical professionals. Average score of the participants on the impact of event scale (IES-R) questionnaire was 29.5±33. More than half of the participants (66.6%) had normal scores on the IES-R, but 12.8% had scores in the mild range, 3.41% in the moderate range and 17.9% classified as severe. On the DASS, 50.9% had normal scores on the stress subscale, 55.2% on the anxiety subscale, and 58.9% on the depression subscale. Severe symptoms of stress were experienced by 4.3%, which is more or less similar to the 5.6% who experienced severe symptoms of depression and 7.9% who experienced severe symptoms of Anxiety. Conclusion: Throughout the different waves of the COVID-19 outbreak in UAE, the results showed that nearly one-fourth of the sampled population experienced moderate to severe psychological impact. Following specific precautionary measures appeared to have a protective effect on the individual's mental health. Our findings can be used to construct psychological interventions directed toward vulnerable populations and to implement public mental health strategies in the early stages of the outbreak.