EPV461 - Anxiety among healthcare workers infected by COVID-19: A cross-sectional study

EPV461

Anxiety among healthcare workers infected by COVID-19: A cross-sectional study

A. Aloui ^1,*, N. Ganoun ¹, A. chouchane ¹, I. Kacem ¹, N. Zommit ², M. Bouhoula ¹, M. Makhloufi ¹, H. Kalboussi ¹, O. El Maalel ¹, S. Chatti ¹

¹1    Department of Occupational Medicine, ²Departement of Epidemiology, Farhat Hached university hospital, Sousse, Tunisia

 

Introduction: The impact of COVID-19 on mental health has been continuously reported, especially among healthcare workers. In the literature, anxiety symptoms are not uncommon in infected individuals. However, there is a little data on these psychological events in healthcare professionals.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and the associated factors of anxiety symptoms among healthcare workers infected by COVID-19.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted among healthcare workers at Farhat Hached University Hospital infected by COVID 19. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the socio-professional and medical characteristics of the participants. Anxiety symptoms were assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD-S). 

Results: A total of 477 confirmed COVID-19 in healthcare works were included in this study (85.9%). The mean age of the participants was 39.9 ±10.8 years. Women represented 78.2%. The majority of the infected participants were nurses (32.1%). The pauci-symptomatic form of the disease was the most frequent (73.8%). After returning to work, 62.7% of the participants retained residual symptoms and 15.5% experienced stigma reaction from their colleagues. The overall prevalence of anxiety symptoms were 25.4%. Furthermore, residual symptoms and duration of confinement predicted anxiety symptomatology.

Conclusions: The psychological events of COVID-19 are frequent among healthcare workers. Thus systematic screening and early management of psychological disorders are necessary to preserve the human resources of the health sector.

 

Disclosure of Interest: None Declared