Torrens University, Public Health, Melbourne, Australia.
Military Hospital and Spinal Cord Injury Centre, Pune, India.
JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2020 Dec 22;6(4):e24206. doi: 10.2196/24206.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has become a serious concern among the global medical community and has resulted in an unprecedented psychological impact on health care workers, who were already working under stressful conditions.
In this study, we aimed to evaluate and measure the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the anxiety levels and sleep quality among health care workers in India, as well as to determine how the unavailability of personal protective equipment affects their willingness to provide patient-related care.
We conducted an online cross-sectional study using piloted, structured questionnaires with self-reported responses from 368 volunteer male and female health care workers in India. Study participants were identified through social networking platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp. The survey evaluated the participants' degree of signs and symptoms of anxiety and sleep quality based on the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale and single-item Sleep Quality Scale, respectively. Information on the availability of personal protective equipment was collected based on responses to relevant survey questions.
The majority of health care workers (126/368, 34.2%) were in the age group 45-60 years, and 52.2% (192/368) were doctors. Severe anxiety (ie, GAD-7 score >10) was observed among 7.3% (27/368) health care workers, whereas moderate, mild, and minimal anxiety was observed among 12.5% (46/368), 29.3% (108/368), and 50.8% (187/368) health care workers, respectively. Moreover, 31.5% (116/368) of the health care workers had poor-to-fair sleep quality (ie, scores <6). Univariate analysis showed female gender and inadequate availability of personal protective equipment was significantly associated with higher anxiety levels (P=.01 for both). Sleep disturbance was significantly associated with age <30 years (P=.04) and inadequate personal protective equipment (P<.001). Multivariable analysis showed that poorer quality of sleep was associated with higher anxiety levels (P<.001).
The COVID-19 pandemic has potentially caused significant levels of anxiety and sleep disturbances among health care workers, particularly associated with the female gender, younger age group, and inadequate availability of personal protective equipment. These factors put health care workers at constant risk of contracting the infection themselves or transmitting it to their families. Early identification of at-risk health care workers and implementation of situation-tailored mitigation measures could help alleviate the risk of long-term, serious psychological sequelae as well as reduce current anxiety levels among health care workers.
由 SARS-CoV-2 引起的 COVID-19 大流行已成为全球医学界关注的严重问题，给本已在压力下工作的医护人员带来了前所未有的心理影响。
本研究旨在评估和测量 COVID-19 大流行对印度医护人员焦虑水平和睡眠质量的影响，并确定个人防护设备的缺乏如何影响他们提供与患者相关护理的意愿。
我们使用经过预试验的、有结构的问卷进行了一项在线横断面研究，该问卷由印度的 368 名自愿男性和女性医护人员进行了自我报告。研究参与者通过 Facebook 和 WhatsApp 等社交网络平台确定。该调查根据 7 项一般焦虑障碍（GAD-7）量表和单项睡眠质量量表，评估参与者焦虑和睡眠质量的严重程度。根据相关调查问题的回答，收集了个人防护设备可用性的信息。
大多数医护人员（368 人中有 126 人，占 34.2%）年龄在 45-60 岁之间，52.2%（368 人中有 192 人）是医生。7.3%（368 人中有 27 人）的医护人员出现严重焦虑（即 GAD-7 评分>10），12.5%（368 人中有 46 人）、29.3%（368 人中有 108 人）、轻度、中度和轻度焦虑，分别为 29.3%（368 人中有 108 人）和 50.8%（368 人中有 187 人）。此外，31.5%（368 人中有 116 人）的医护人员睡眠质量较差（即评分<6）。单变量分析显示，女性性别和个人防护设备供应不足与较高的焦虑水平显著相关（均 P=.01）。睡眠障碍与年龄<30 岁（P=.04）和个人防护设备供应不足（P<.001）显著相关。多变量分析显示，睡眠质量较差与焦虑水平较高相关（P<.001）。
COVID-19 大流行可能给医护人员带来严重的焦虑和睡眠障碍，尤其是与女性性别、年轻年龄组和个人防护设备供应不足有关。这些因素使医护人员自身感染或传播给家人的风险持续存在。早期识别高危医护人员并实施针对具体情况的缓解措施，有助于减轻长期严重心理后遗症的风险，并降低医护人员目前的焦虑水平。
