Stress and anxiety among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in russia

Abstract

Introduction Mental health of medical workers treating patients with COVID-19 is an issue of increasing concern worldwide, since previous epidemics have shown high levels of anxiety and stress in front-line healthcare professionals. The available data on stress and anxiety symptoms among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 are relatively limited and have not been evaluated in Russia yet. Objectives To evaluate stress and anxiety symptoms among healthcare workers directly involved in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with COVID-19 during the peak of disease outbreak in Russia. Methods The study was a cross-sectional hospital-based anonymous on-line survey in May 2020 of 1,090 healthcare workers practicing treatment of patients with COVID-19. Stress and anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Russian versions of Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemic scale (SAVE-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scales. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the influence of different variables. Results The median scores on the GAD-7 and SAVE-9 were 5 and 14, respectively. 49.1% respondents had moderate and 21.9% had severe anxiety according to SAVE-9. 12.3% had severe anxiety, 13.2% had moderate according to GAD-7. Female gender and younger age were associated with higher level of anxiety according to regression model. Conclusions Our study has shown that healthcare workers in Russia practicing treatment of patients with COVID-19 reported high rates of stress and anxiety similar to other countries. Female gender, younger age and being a physician were associated with higher levels of anxiety. These results demonstrate the importance of supportive programs for health care workers fighting COVID-19. Disclosure No significant relationships.

Keywords

• Anxiety
• COVID-19
• SAVE-9
• GAD-7