Anxiety and Sleep Quality Levels of Emergency Medical Personnel and Factors Affecting Them During the Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic

Abstract

Objective:The study was conducted to determine the anxiety and sleep quality levels of emergency medical service personnel as well as factors affecting them during the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.Materials and Methods:This descriptive study included 247 medical professionals working in emergency medical services.Results:The mean age of the medical personnel was 32.62±7.36 years, of whom 54.3% were females, 49.8% were married, 89.9% were university graduates and 47.8% nurse. Of the medical staff, 21.9% had mild anxiety, 15.8% had moderate anxiety, and 33.2% had high anxiety. Pittsburgh sleep quality index scores of all participants were >5. A strong and positive relationship (p<0.001) was found between the anxiety level (19.24±15.67) and sleep quality (14.39±3.13) of participants. The study revealed that healthcare personnel who worked 24 hour shifts, smoked and/or drank alcohol, had a psychological disorder, and lacked adequate protective equipment had high anxiety scores and poor sleep quality. Moreover, healthcare professionals who experienced problems with childcare, thought that working conditions affect their children negatively, and were afraid of COVID-19 transmission to themselves and their families had high anxiety scores and poor sleep quality.Conclusion:During the pandemic, monitoring the emergency medical personnels’ health and work is important to determine their levels of anxiety and sleep quality and to provide necessary psychological support.

Keywords

• emergency medical services
• anxiety
• covid-19 pandemic
• medical personnel
• sleep quality