EFFECT OF COVID-19 ON EMERGENCY SERVICE WORKERS

Abstract

Introduction: Healthcare professionals have been of the fight against the pandemic, continued for more than a year. The anxiety levels of healthcare workers due to increased workload, social isolation, fear of catching COVID-19, etc. have increased significantly. The aim of this study is to determine the anxiety levels of emergency service workers who are always at the forefront of the fighting against the pandemic in Turkey. Methods: A questionnaire containing demographic information and the questions of 2 different scales (generalized anxiety disorder-7 scale, coronavirus anxiety scale), whose validation and reliability were performed in Turkey, was delivered via the web to the emergency room workers. Results: Personnel working in the emergency service of a tertiary state hospital, 74% were reached. On the generalized anxiety scale, 53% of the participants received a score of 11 or above (severe anxiety). While the mean values of the generalized anxiety scale in the income and education groups showed a statistically significant correlation, the anxiety mean scores of those with less than 2 years of employment were found to be statistically significantly lower, and the anxiety mean scores of those who had covid-19 during the pandemic were found to be statistically significantly higher. This was found to be related to those with high anxiety and covid-related anxiety scores not wanting to work in the emergency service. Conclusion: As a result of the study, it was revealed emergency service workers have a high level of anxiety originating from pandemics, regardless of their seniority, age, and gender.

Keywords

• emergency medicine
• COVİD-19,
• pandemic
• coronavirus anxiety short form ( CAS)

References

1. 1. Koronavirüs hastalığına (COVID-19) ve buna neden olan virüse isim vermek [Internet]. [cited 2021 May 1]. Available from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/naming-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it
2. 2. WHO’nun COVID-19’a tepkisinin zaman çizelgesi [Internet]. [cited 2021 May 1]. Available from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/interactive-timeline#!
3. 3. Covid19 [Internet]. [cited 2021 May 2]. Available from: https://covid19.saglik.gov.tr/
4. 4. Coronavirus [Internet]. [cited 2021 May 1]. Available from: https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_3
5. 5. Danet Danet A. Psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic in Western frontline healthcare professionals. A systematic review. Medicina Clínica (English Edition) [Internet]. 2021 Mar [cited 2021 May 1]; Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7972644/
6. 6. Shanafelt T, Ripp J, Trockel M. Understanding and Addressing Sources of Anxiety among Health Care Professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association [Internet]. 2020 Jun 2 [cited 2021 May 1];323(21):2133–4. Available from: https://jamanetwork.com/
7. 7. Wang J, Zhou M, Liu F. Reasons for healthcare workers becoming infected with novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China [Internet]. Vol. 105, Journal of Hospital Infection. W.B. Saunders Ltd; 2020 [cited 2021 Apr 30]. p. 100–1. Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7134479/
8. 8. Pappa S, Ntella V, Giannakas T, Giannakoulis VG, Papoutsi E, Katsaounou P. Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and insomnia among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis [Internet]. Vol. 88, Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. Academic Press Inc.; 2020 [cited 2021 May 4]. p. 901–7. Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7206431/

9. 9. Lee SA. Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: A brief mental health screener for COVID-19 related anxiety. Death Studies [Internet]. 2020 Jul 2 [cited 2021 May 8];44(7):393–401. Available from: https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=udst20
10. 10. Koronavirüs Anksiyete Ölçeği Kısa Formu: Türkçe Geçerlik ve Güvenirlik Çalışması.
11. 11. Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JBW, Löwe B. A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: The GAD-7. Archives of Internal Medicine [Internet]. 2006 May 22 [cited 2021 May 2];166(10):1092–7. Available from: https://jamanetwork.com/
12. 12. زين الدين ر. No Title طرق وسترتيغى تعليم اللغة العربية [Internet]. 2005 [cited 2021 May 2]. Available from: https://toad.halileksi.net/sites/default/files/pdf/yaygin-anksiyete-bozuklugu-7-yab-7-toad.pdf
13. 13. Lai J, Ma S, Wang Y, Cai Z, Hu J, Wei N, et al. Factors associated with mental health outcomes among health care workers exposed to coronavirus disease 2019. JAMA Network Open [Internet]. 2020 Mar 4 [cited 2021 May 2];3(3). Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7090843/
14. 14. Rossi R, Socci V, Pacitti F, Di Lorenzo G, Di Marco A, Siracusano A, et al. Mental Health Outcomes among Frontline and Second-Line Health Care Workers during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic in Italy [Internet]. Vol. 3, JAMA Network Open. American Medical Association; 2020 [cited 2021 May 8]. Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7256664/
15. 15. Stojanov J, Malobabic M, Stanojevic G, Stevic M, Milosevic V, Stojanov A. Quality of sleep and health-related quality of life among health care professionals treating patients with coronavirus disease-19. International Journal of Social Psychiatry [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2021 May 6]; Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7369398/
16. 16. Cipolotti L, Chan E, Murphy P, van Harskamp N, Foley JA. Factors contributing to the distress, concerns, and needs of UK Neuroscience health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice [Internet]. 2020 Apr 1 [cited 2021 May 5]; Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7404511/
17. 17. Man MA, Toma C, Motoc NS, Necrelescu OL, Bondor CI, Chis AF, et al. Disease perception and coping with emotional distress during covid-19 pandemic: A survey among medical staff. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health [Internet]. 2020 Jul 1 [cited 2021 May 1];17(13):1–13. Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7369835/
18. 18. Elbay RY, Kurtulmuş A, Arpacıoğlu S, Karadere E. Depression, anxiety, stress levels of physicians and associated factors in Covid-19 pandemics. Psychiatry Research [Internet]. 2020 Aug 1 [cited 2021 May 1];290:113130. Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7255248/
19. 19. Stojanov J, Malobabic M, Stanojevic G, Stevic M, Milosevic V, Stojanov A. Quality of sleep and health-related quality of life among health care professionals treating patients with coronavirus disease-19. International Journal of Social Psychiatry [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2021 May 5]; Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7369398/
20. 20. Liang Y, Wu K, Zhou Y, Huang X, Zhou Y, Liu Z. Mental health in frontline medical workers during the 2019 novel coronavirus disease epidemic in China: A comparison with the general population. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health [Internet]. 2020 Sep 2 [cited 2021 May 2];17(18):1–12. Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7558595/
21. 21. Liu CY, Yang YZ, Zhang XM, Xu X, Dou QL, Zhang WW, et al. The prevalence and influencing factors in anxiety in medical workers fighting COVID-19 in China: A cross-sectional survey [Internet]. Vol. 148, Epidemiology and Infection. Cambridge University Press; 2020 [cited 2021 May 5]. Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7251286/
22. 22. Du J, Dong L, Wang T, Yuan C, Fu R, Zhang L, et al. Psychological symptoms among frontline healthcare workers during COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan [Internet]. Vol. 67, General Hospital Psychiatry. Elsevier Inc.; 2020 [cited 2021 May 5]. p. 144–5. Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7194721/
23. 23. Dosil Santamaría M, Ozamiz-Etxebarria N, Redondo Rodríguez I, Jaureguizar Alboniga-Mayor J, Picaza Gorrotxategi M. Psychological impact of COVID-19 on a sample of Spanish health professionals. Revista de Psiquiatria y Salud Mental [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2021 May 5]; Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7264016/
24. 24. Huang Y, Zhao N. Generalized anxiety disorder, depressive symptoms and sleep quality during COVID-19 outbreak in China: a web-based cross-sectional survey. Psychiatry Research [Internet]. 2020 Jun 1 [cited 2021 May 8];288:112954. Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7152913/
25. 25. Arpacioglu S, Gurler M, Cakiroglu S. Secondary Traumatization Outcomes and Associated Factors Among the Health Care Workers Exposed to the COVID-19. International Journal of Social Psychiatry [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2021 May 1]; Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7348255/
26. 26. Nekliudov NA, Blyuss O, Cheung KY, Petrou L, Genuneit J, Sushentsev N, et al. Excessive media consumption about COVID-19 is associated with increased state anxiety: Outcomes of a large online survey in Russia. Journal of Medical Internet Research [Internet]. 2020 Sep 1 [cited 2021 May 6];22(9). Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7490003/
27. 27. Clavier T, Popoff B, Selim J, Beuzelin M, Roussel M, Compere V, et al. Association of social network use with increased anxiety related to the COVID-19 pandemic in anesthesiology, intensive care, and emergency medicine teams: Cross-sectional web-based survey study. JMIR mHealth and uHealth [Internet]. 2020 Sep 1 [cited 2021 May 6];8(9). Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC7518883/