The prevalence of coronaphobia among nursing staff in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Nursing staff are in direct contact with the consequences of the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. Design and Methods: Descriptive questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey of a sample of nursing staff working across Saudi Arabia. Results: The study included (n = 431) nursing professionals. Coronaphobia prevalence among the nursing staff was 80.3% [95% confidence interval (CI): 76.5–84%]. There were (36.7%) who had severe cornaphobia. Working in a clinical department and being Saudi national were associated with increased COVID-19 fear (estimate = 0.109, P = 0.0153 and P = 0.010, respectively). Conclusion: Hospital management in Saudi Arabia needs to acknowledge the high prevalence of coronaphobia during the current COVID-19 crisis among nursing staff.

Keywords

• coronaphobia
• fear of covid-19
• nursing staff
• saudi arabia