The Magnitude of Psychological Distress Among Interns During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multicentric Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 has raised serious concerns about the wellbeing of frontline health care workers. Healthcare staff are at increased risk of psychological health problems when dealing with challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the healthcare professionals, the most commonly affected are those working on the frontline, who are the first to come in contact with the patients. Objectives: To determine the levels of depression, anxiety and stress among interns during COVID-19 pandemic, and, to assess the factors affecting mental health of the interns during COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: This was a web-based multicentric cross-sectional study conducted among interns of various tertiary care teaching hospitals providing COVID care services, during July – August 2021. Data was collected using a self-administered online questionnaire based on the standard DASS-21 scale that assessed the various domains of psychological distress. Result: Among the study subjects 46% suffered with all three psychological domains like depression, anxiety and stress, 15% had only anxiety, around 10% had anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic while 22.5% had no psychological problems. Conclusions: Significant proportions of interns were suffering from depression, anxiety and stress. Fear of COVID-19, long working hours, usage of PPE, COVID vaccination status, and COVID-19 infection status were identified as potential predictors of psychological distress.

Keywords

• Interns
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Stress
• COVID-19