SISU Intercultural Institute (SII), Shanghai International Studies University (SISU), Shanghai, China.
School of Commerce and Accountancy, University of Management and Technology (UMT), Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
Front Public Health. 2023 Jun 16;11:1192733. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1192733. eCollection 2023.
The study aims to document sociodemographic features, address the symptoms and levels of depression, anxiety, and stress among frontline doctors in Pakistan, and validate the depression, anxiety, stress scale (DASS-21) on the context of Pakistan.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted throughout the regions of Pakistan on frontline doctors to document their sociodemographic patterns and the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress while dealing with the fifth wave (Omicron-variant) of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in Pakistan (December 2021-April 2022). Respondents ( = 319) were recruited through a snowball sampling process.
Though previous literature reported declines in psychological symptoms after earlier waves of COVID-19, these DASS-21 findings show that as the pandemic has worn on, frontline doctors in Pakistan are having considerable personal symptoms of depression (72.7%), anxiety (70.2%), and stress (58.3%). Though specifically related to the COVID-19 pandemic, they rated only moderate levels of depression and stress, however they reported severe levels of anxiety. The results also revealed a positive correlation between depression and anxiety ( = 0.696, < 0.001), depression and stress ( = 0.761, < 0.001), and anxiety and stress ( = 0.720, < 0.001).
Through the application of all required statistical procedures, DASS-21 is validated in the cultural context of Pakistan among this group of frontline doctors. The findings of this study can provide new directions for the policy makers (government and hospitals' administration) of Pakistan to focus on the mental wellbeing of the doctors under similar enduring public health crises and to protect them from short- or long-term disorders.
本研究旨在记录巴基斯坦一线医生的社会人口学特征，探讨他们在应对第五波（奥密克戎变体）新冠病毒（SARS-CoV-2）大流行时的症状和抑郁、焦虑和压力水平，并验证在巴基斯坦背景下使用抑郁、焦虑和压力量表（DASS-21）的适用性。
本研究采用横断面调查，于 2021 年 12 月至 2022 年 4 月期间在巴基斯坦各地区对一线医生进行调查，以记录他们的社会人口学特征以及在应对第五波新冠病毒大流行时的抑郁、焦虑和压力水平。通过滚雪球抽样法招募了 319 名受访者。
尽管先前的文献报道称，在前几波新冠疫情后，心理健康症状有所下降，但这些 DASS-21 研究结果表明，随着疫情的持续，巴基斯坦的一线医生个人出现了相当程度的抑郁（72.7%）、焦虑（70.2%）和压力（58.3%）症状。尽管这些症状与新冠疫情有关，但他们仅报告了中度水平的抑郁和压力，而焦虑水平则较为严重。研究结果还显示，抑郁与焦虑之间（ = 0.696，< 0.001）、抑郁与压力之间（ = 0.761，< 0.001）以及焦虑与压力之间（ = 0.720，< 0.001）存在正相关关系。
通过应用所有必需的统计程序，DASS-21 在巴基斯坦这一特定文化背景下的一线医生群体中得到了验证。本研究结果可为巴基斯坦的决策者（政府和医院管理部门）提供新的方向，使其在面临类似的持久公共卫生危机时关注医生的心理健康，并保护他们免受短期或长期疾病的影响。
