Kumari Kamlesh, Chaudhary Kriti, Chhabra Swati, Bhatia Pradeep, Kamal Manoj, Kishan Rama, Verma Manoj, Kumar Ashok
Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.
Department of Anaesthesiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, India.
J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol. 2022 Jul;38(Suppl 1):S58-S65. doi: 10.4103/joacp.joacp_291_21. Epub 2022 Jun 15.
Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-related stress is an important but under-rated issue needing attention. Stress and causative factors vary between the regions and individuals depending on the availability of resources, socio-cultural differences, and individual perceptions. We aimed to study the psychosocial impact and coping strategies among the healthcare workers (HCWs) in Western Rajasthan during COVID-19 pandemic.
This questionnaire-based observational study, consisting of 59 questions in 6 sections, was conducted to identify stress, causative factors, coping strategies, and experiences of HCWs working in personal protective equipment (PPE). Chi-square test was used to compare the responses between different subgroups.
Majority of the HCWs felt responsible for treating COVID-19 patients (98.8%), but also felt that it was affecting their safety (81.4%). On subgroup analysis, doctors were found to be more stressed than nursing staff (P = 0.004). Major stressors included concerns about infecting family members and lack of specific treatment for COVID-19 (87.5%). Family support was found to be a major stress-relieving factor (97.3%). Most HCWs suggested that comfortable quarantine stay, adequate supply of PPE, and equipments would help in reducing stress.
Frontline HCWs in Western Rajasthan were under significant stress during COVID-19 pandemic. We found that stress-causing factors and coping strategies varied between different subgroups based on profession, gender, and age. We recommend conducting such studies in different regions of the world to develop relevant and region-specific strategies to help HCWs cope with stress more efficiently, thereby, strengthening the healthcare system to deal with future pandemics.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID - 19）大流行相关的压力是一个重要但未得到充分重视的问题，需要引起关注。压力及其成因在不同地区和个体之间存在差异，这取决于资源的可获取性、社会文化差异以及个人认知。我们旨在研究拉贾斯坦邦西部在COVID - 19大流行期间医护人员的心理社会影响及应对策略。
本基于问卷的观察性研究由6个部分共59个问题组成，旨在确定医护人员在使用个人防护装备（PPE）时的压力、成因、应对策略及经历。采用卡方检验比较不同亚组之间的回答。
大多数医护人员认为自己有责任治疗COVID - 19患者（98.8%），但也觉得这影响到了他们的安全（81.4%）。亚组分析发现，医生比护士承受的压力更大（P = 0.004）。主要压力源包括担心感染家庭成员以及缺乏针对COVID - 19的特效治疗方法（87.5%）。家庭支持被发现是一个主要的减压因素（97.3%）。大多数医护人员建议，舒适的隔离环境、充足的PPE供应及设备将有助于减轻压力。
在COVID - 19大流行期间，拉贾斯坦邦西部的一线医护人员承受着巨大压力。我们发现，基于职业、性别和年龄的不同亚组，压力成因和应对策略存在差异。我们建议在世界不同地区开展此类研究，以制定相关的、因地制宜的策略，帮助医护人员更有效地应对压力，从而加强医疗系统应对未来大流行的能力。
