Dataset Information

A closer look at the high burden of psychiatric disorders among healthcare workers in Egypt during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

This study aimed to examine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among Egyptian healthcare workers (HCWs) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods

Six databases were searched for relevant papers. The quality of the selected articles was measured using the National Institute of Health quality assessment tool. We used a fixed-effects model when there was no heterogeneity and a random-effects model when there was heterogeneity.

Results

After screening 197 records, 10 studies were ultimately included. Anxiety was the most commonly reported psychiatric disorder among HCWs, with a prevalence of 71.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 49.4 to 86.9), followed by stress (66.6%; 95% CI, 47.6 to 81.3), depression (65.5%; 95% CI, 46.9 to 80.3), and insomnia (57.9%; 95% CI, 45.9 to 69.0). As measured using the 21-item Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale, the most common level of severity was moderate for depression (22.5%; 95% CI, 19.8 to 25.5) and stress (14.5%; 95% CI, 8.8 to 22.9), while high-severity anxiety was more common than other levels of severity (28.2%; 95% CI, 3.8 to 79.6).

Conclusions

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative effect on Egyptian HCWs' psychological well-being. More psychological support and preventive measures should be implemented to prevent the further development of psychiatric illness among physicians and other HCWs.

SUBMITTER: El-Qushayri AE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8602011 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:IntroductionThe global devastating effect of COVID-19 has caused anxiety and fear to variable extent among the public. We aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, socioeconomic burden, and the mental health problems regarding anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder during COVID-19 on the general population and HCWs in Egypt.MethodsThis study was conducted using a semi-structured online questionnaire in May 2020. Data on demographic features, socioeconomic scale, knowledge, and attitude regarding COVID-19 and the effect on different aspects of life were collected. Assessment was done using Arabic versions of Beck's Anxiety Inventory, Beck's Depression Inventory-II, and Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. We divided participants into non-health care workers (non-HCWs) and HCWs groups.ResultsThere were 524 participants who responded to the survey from 23 governorates. More than half of the participants were females (57.4%), middle age (53%), and middle socioeconomic class (66.6%). Non-HCWs were 402 and HCWs were 122. Most participants had good knowledge about the disease and a positive attitude toward protective measures particularly in HCWs. COVID-19 showed negative impact on different aspects of participants' life. HCWs had higher frequency of anxiety (32%) and OCD (29%) than non-HCWs (30% and 28%, respectively) while non-HCWs had higher depression (69%) than HCWs (66.4%). HCWs had higher rates of severe depression (20.5%) with moderate and severe OCD (4.9%, 1.6% respectively) than non-HCWs. Female gender, young age, urban residence, students, smoking, history of medical illness, and low socioeconomic class were significant associated factors.ConclusionsHealth care workers had good knowledge about COVID-19 and a positive attitude toward the protective measures relative to non-HCWs. COVID-19 had a negative impact on different aspects of life and had a major association with the anxiety, depression, and OCD in both groups. Health professionals are more likely to have these psychological consequences.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41983-021-00280-w.