The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic On Malaysian Police Officers Mental Health: Depression, Anxiety and Stress

Abstract

Purpose: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has causes life-changing impacts such as new environmental policies, slowdown of world economy and impact on global health and society. Police officers are among the front liners who continue to bravely fight this pandemic. As the frontline in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, police officers are at high risk for many forms of psychological problems which includes anxiety and depression. It is reported that a total of 60 officers from the New York Police Department died from suicide due to mental health disturbance and approximately 95 police officers in China died on the frontline of fighting this outbreak. Thus, it is important to provide appropriate mental health services and to be able to do such, there is the need to understand the psychological risk factors and their subsequent needs during pandemic. The main purpose of this study is to identify the impact of COVID-19 pandemic to mental health of Malaysian police officers. Methods & Materials: Police Stress Questionnaires (PSQ) was used to measure the police-specific stressors related with COVID-19. Meanwhile, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) questionnaires use to determine the prevalence of occupational stress among police officers. Results: It is found that the highest percentage reported of 41.1% moderate depression, 45% of moderate anxiety and 31.8% moderate stress among the respondents. Lack of resources, unequal sharing of work responsibilities, inadequate equipment and high risk to COVID-19 infection are associated with depression, anxiety and stress among police officers. There is significant correlation between COVID-19 stressors and level of depression, anxiety and stress among the police officers with direct correlation. Conclusion: Majority of the police officers suffer moderate to severe depression, anxiety and stress during COVID-19 pandemic. Identified stressors from the study help to develop best practices and offers recommendations for policing when handling pandemic in future.