Dataset Information

Psychological Distress and Anxiety Levels Among Health Care Workers at the Height of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Arab Emirates.

ABSTRACT: Objectives: Providing medical care during a global pandemic exposes healthcare workers (HCW) to a high level of risk, causing anxiety and stress. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of anxiety and psychological distress among HCWs during COVID-19. Methods: We invited HCWs from 3 hospitals across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to participate in an anonymous online survey between April 19-May 3, 2020. The GAD-7 and K10 measures were used to assess anxiety and psychological distress. Logistic regression models assessed associations between knowledge, attitude, worry, and levels of anxiety and psychological distress. Results: A total of 481 HCWs participated in this study. The majority of HCWs were female (73.6%) and aged 25-34 years (52.6%). More than half were nurses (55.7%) and had good knowledge of COVID-19 (86.3%). Over a third (37%) of HCWs reported moderate/severe psychological distress in the K10 measure and moderate/severe anxiety (32.3%) in the GAD-7, with frontline workers significantly reporting higher levels of anxiety (36%). Knowledge of COVID-19 did not predict anxiety and psychological distress, however, HCWs who believed COVID-19 was difficult to treat and those who perceived they were at high risk of infection had worse mental health outcomes. Worry about spreading COVID-19 to family, being isolated, contracting COVID-19 and feeling stigmatized had 1.8- to 2.5-fold increased odds of symptoms of mental health problems. Additionally, HCWs who felt the need for psychological support through their workplace showed increased odds of psychological distress. Conclusion: HCWs in the UAE reported a high prevalence of psychological distress and anxiety while responding to the challenges of COVID-19. The findings from this study emphasize the public, emotional and mental health burden of COVID-19 and highlight the importance for health systems to implement, monitor, and update preventive policies to protect HCWs from contracting the virus while also providing psychological support in the workplace.

SUBMITTER: Saddik B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8615074 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Psychological Distress and Anxiety Levels Among Health Care Workers at the Height of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Arab Emirates.

Saddik Basema B Elbarazi Iffat I Temsah Mohamad-Hani MH Saheb Sharif-Askari Fatemeh F Kheder Waad W Hussein Amal A Najim Hellme H Bendardaf Riyad R Hamid Qutayba Q Halwani Rabih R

International journal of public health 20211111

<b>Objectives:</b> Providing medical care during a global pandemic exposes healthcare workers (HCW) to a high level of risk, causing anxiety and stress. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of anxiety and psychological distress among HCWs during COVID-19. <b>Methods:</b> We invited HCWs from 3 hospitals across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to participate in an anonymous online survey between April 19-May 3, 2020. The GAD-7 and K10 measures were used to assess anxiety and psychological dist ...[more]

PMID: 34840553

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic impacted the psychosocial well-being of the United Arab Emirates [UAE] population like other communities internationally.ObjectivesWe aimed to identify the factors associated with psychological distress, fear, and coping amongst community members across the UAE.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional online survey across the UAE during November 2020. Adults aged ≥18 years, living in the UAE who were able to respond to an online questionnaire in English or Arabic were considered eligible to participate in the study. We used standard validated tools to measure psychological distress, fear and coping. Kessler Psychological Distress Scale [K10] was used to assess psychological distress, Fear of COVID-19 Scale [FCV-19S] was used to assess the level of fear, and Brief Resilient Coping Scale [BRCS] was used to assess the coping strategies.ResultsA total of 417 individuals participated in this study with a mean age of 29 [± 10.7] years. More than half of the participants experienced high to very high levels of psychological distress [55%] and a quarter experienced high levels of fear of COVID-19 [23.3%] with almost a third of them [36.2%] having low resilient coping. About 37.4% of the participants had work-related mental health impacts and 32.4% were perceived to have moderate to a great deal of distress due to a change of employment status during the pandemic. One in ten participants [9.4%] reported increased smoking. Increased smoking [AOR 8.66, 95% CIs 1.08-69.1,], increased alcohol drinking [AOR 2.39, 95% CIs 1.05-5.47] and higher levels of fear of COVID-19 [AOR 2.93, 95% CIs 1.83-4.67] were associated with moderate to very high levels of psychological distress. Being female [AOR 1.82, p = 0.030], having a pre-existing mental health condition [AOR 9.88, 95% p = 0.027], engaging in high-risk behaviors such as increased smoking [AOR 21.14, p = 0.003], increased alcohol drinking [AOR 1.48, p = 0.359] in the previous four weeks, and higher levels of fear of COVID-19 [AOR 4.18, p <0.001] were associated with moderate to very high levels of psychological distress. Also, being a smoker [AOR, 0.840, p = 0.011], and having a high level of fear [AOR 0.372, p = 0.001] were found to be associated with low resilient coping.ConclusionCommunity members in the UAE are at a higher risk of psychosocial distress and fear during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, healthcare providers and policymakers would need to be more alert to provide specific mental health support strategies for their wellbeing.

Project description:BackgroundThe psychosocial impact of previous infectious disease outbreaks in adults has been well documented, however, there is limited information on the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adults and children in the United Arab Emirate (UAE) community. The aim of this study was to explore anxiety levels among adults and children in the UAE and to identify potential risk and protective factors for well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsUsing a web-based cross-sectional survey we collected data from 2200 self-selected, assessed volunteers and their children. Demographic information, knowledge and beliefs about COVID-19, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) using the (GAD-7) scale, emotional problems in children using the strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ), worry and fear about COVID-19, coping mechanisms and general health information were collected. Descriptive analysis was carried out to summarize demographic and participant characteristics, Chi-square analysis to explore associations between categorical variables and anxiety levels and multivariable binary logistic regression analysis to determine predictors of anxiety levels in adults and emotional problems in children.ResultsThe overall prevalence of GAD in the general population was 71% with younger people (59.8%) and females (51.7%) reporting highest levels of anxiety. Parents who were teachers reported the highest percentage of emotional problems in children (26.7%). Adjusted multivariable logistic regression for GAD-7 scores showed that being female, high levels of worry associated with COVID-19, intention to take the COVID-19 vaccine and smoking were associated with higher levels of anxiety. Adjusted multivariable logistic regression for SDQ showed that higher emotional problems were reported for children in lower and higher secondary education, and parents who had severe anxiety were seven times more likely to report emotional problems in their children.ConclusionsThis study reports the psychological impact of COVID-19 among adults and children in the UAE and highlights the significant association between parental and child anxiety. Findings suggest the urgency for policy makers to develop effective screening and coping strategies for parents and especially children.

Project description:BackgroundSignificant concerns about mental health were raised during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated the prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms among the participants of the United Arab Emirates Healthy Future Study (UAEHFS); a national cohort study. We further explored the change in the prevalence of depression symptoms among those with comparable pre-pandemic data.MethodsA sample of UAEHFS participants were invited to complete a COVID-19 online questionnaire during the first wave of the pandemic. Depression and anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Scale (PHQ-8) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale (GAD-7) respectively. Unpaired analyses were done to examine the effect of COVID-19 on depression and anxiety symptoms during the pandemic. Paired analysis was conducted to examine the change in depression symptoms.ResultsDuring the pandemic, we reported a prevalence of 32.8% (95% CI: 27.0, 39.1) for depression and 26.4% (95% CI: 21.0, 32.6) for anxiety symptoms. Younger people reported higher levels of depression (40.4%) and anxiety (34.5%) symptoms. Females reported higher levels of depression (36.5%) and anxiety (32.7%) symptoms. In paired analysis, the prevalence of depression symptoms during the pandemic was 34% (95% CI: 26.5, 42.4) compared to 29.9% (95% CI: 22.7, 38.1) before the pandemic. No statistically significant difference was observed, p-value = 0.440. Adjusted multivariate logistic regression models for PHQ-8 and GAD-7 during the pandemic showed that participants, who were experiencing flu-like symptoms, had higher odds of reporting depression symptoms compared to those without symptoms. Additionally, age was significantly negatively associated with anxiety symptoms.ConclusionsOverall, we found that depression and anxiety symptoms were more prevalent among young people and females. However, we did not find a significant change in the prevalence of depression symptoms among those with comparable pre-pandemic data. Identifying vulnerable groups and understanding trajectories through longitudinal studies would help with planning for effective mental health interventions for the current and future pandemics.

Dataset Information

Psychological Distress and Anxiety Levels Among Health Care Workers at the Height of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Arab Emirates.

Publications

Psychological Distress and Anxiety Levels Among Health Care Workers at the Height of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Arab Emirates.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets