Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression among Psychiatric Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Malaysian Perspective
The psychological distress reported among frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) is concerning. Little is known about the mental health of non-frontline, psychiatric HCWs, who play a central role in handling the mental health crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to examine the prevalen...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-03-01
|
| Series: | Healthcare |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/3/532 |
| _version_ | 1797471267978215424 |
|---|---|
| author | Mehul Kumar Narendra Kumar Benedict Francis Aili Hanim Hashim Nor Zuraida Zainal Rusdi Abdul Rashid Chong Guan Ng Mahmoud Danaee Nurulwafa Hussain Ahmad Hatim Sulaiman |
| author_facet | Mehul Kumar Narendra Kumar Benedict Francis Aili Hanim Hashim Nor Zuraida Zainal Rusdi Abdul Rashid Chong Guan Ng Mahmoud Danaee Nurulwafa Hussain Ahmad Hatim Sulaiman |
| author_sort | Mehul Kumar Narendra Kumar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The psychological distress reported among frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) is concerning. Little is known about the mental health of non-frontline, psychiatric HCWs, who play a central role in handling the mental health crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of anxiety and depression among psychiatric HCWs and evaluate its association with socio-demographic, socio-economic, work-related factors and coping strategies. The authors proposed a cross-sectional study design using the Hospital Anxiety and Depressive Scale (HADS) and Brief-COPE scale. This study found that the prevalence of anxiety and depression were 22.0% and 16.8%, respectively. A multivariate analysis revealed that married psychiatric HCWs had a lower level of anxiety with OR = 0.31 (95% CI: 0.11–0.83). Psychiatric HCWs who were experiencing financial hardships, were unvaccinated and those who had a shorter duration of service in the psychiatric department had a higher level of depressive symptoms with OR = 0.31 (CI: 1.19–11.27), 3.21 (CI: 0.97–10.52), and 1.01 (CI: 1.00–1.02), respectively. For every increase of one unit of avoidant coping score among respondents, the odds of having anxiety and depression increased by 1.25 times (CI: 1.15–1.37) and 1.20 times (CI: 1.09–1.32), respectively, whereas for every increase of one unit of religious coping score among respondents, the odds of having anxiety reduced by 1.42 times (CI: 1.10–1.84). The authors highlight that psychosocial measures addressing the relatively high levels of anxiety and depression among psychiatric HCWs should be a key priority to ensure the sustainment of mental health services in the face of this prolonged pandemic. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T19:46:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d327b88b69b54c14bc68c26cbb3aede7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T19:46:44Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-d327b88b69b54c14bc68c26cbb3aede72023-11-24T01:23:02ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322022-03-0110353210.3390/healthcare10030532Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression among Psychiatric Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Malaysian PerspectiveMehul Kumar Narendra Kumar0Benedict Francis1Aili Hanim Hashim2Nor Zuraida Zainal3Rusdi Abdul Rashid4Chong Guan Ng5Mahmoud Danaee6Nurulwafa Hussain7Ahmad Hatim Sulaiman8Department of Psychological Medicine, University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur 59100, MalaysiaDepartment of Psychological Medicine, University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur 59100, MalaysiaDepartment of Psychological Medicine, University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur 59100, MalaysiaDepartment of Psychological Medicine, University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur 59100, MalaysiaDepartment of Psychological Medicine, University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur 59100, MalaysiaDepartment of Psychological Medicine, University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur 59100, MalaysiaDepartment of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, MalaysiaDepartment of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Hospital Melaka, Jalan Mufti Haji Khalil, Melaka 75400, MalaysiaDepartment of Psychological Medicine, University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur 59100, MalaysiaThe psychological distress reported among frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) is concerning. Little is known about the mental health of non-frontline, psychiatric HCWs, who play a central role in handling the mental health crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of anxiety and depression among psychiatric HCWs and evaluate its association with socio-demographic, socio-economic, work-related factors and coping strategies. The authors proposed a cross-sectional study design using the Hospital Anxiety and Depressive Scale (HADS) and Brief-COPE scale. This study found that the prevalence of anxiety and depression were 22.0% and 16.8%, respectively. A multivariate analysis revealed that married psychiatric HCWs had a lower level of anxiety with OR = 0.31 (95% CI: 0.11–0.83). Psychiatric HCWs who were experiencing financial hardships, were unvaccinated and those who had a shorter duration of service in the psychiatric department had a higher level of depressive symptoms with OR = 0.31 (CI: 1.19–11.27), 3.21 (CI: 0.97–10.52), and 1.01 (CI: 1.00–1.02), respectively. For every increase of one unit of avoidant coping score among respondents, the odds of having anxiety and depression increased by 1.25 times (CI: 1.15–1.37) and 1.20 times (CI: 1.09–1.32), respectively, whereas for every increase of one unit of religious coping score among respondents, the odds of having anxiety reduced by 1.42 times (CI: 1.10–1.84). The authors highlight that psychosocial measures addressing the relatively high levels of anxiety and depression among psychiatric HCWs should be a key priority to ensure the sustainment of mental health services in the face of this prolonged pandemic.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/3/532COVID-19anxietydepressioncopingmental healthpsychiatry |
| spellingShingle | Mehul Kumar Narendra Kumar Benedict Francis Aili Hanim Hashim Nor Zuraida Zainal Rusdi Abdul Rashid Chong Guan Ng Mahmoud Danaee Nurulwafa Hussain Ahmad Hatim Sulaiman Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression among Psychiatric Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Malaysian Perspective Healthcare COVID-19 anxiety depression coping mental health psychiatry |
| title | Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression among Psychiatric Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Malaysian Perspective |
| title_full | Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression among Psychiatric Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Malaysian Perspective |
| title_fullStr | Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression among Psychiatric Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Malaysian Perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression among Psychiatric Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Malaysian Perspective |
| title_short | Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression among Psychiatric Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Malaysian Perspective |
| title_sort | prevalence of anxiety and depression among psychiatric healthcare workers during the covid 19 pandemic a malaysian perspective |
| topic | COVID-19 anxiety depression coping mental health psychiatry |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/10/3/532 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mehulkumarnarendrakumar prevalenceofanxietyanddepressionamongpsychiatrichealthcareworkersduringthecovid19pandemicamalaysianperspective AT benedictfrancis prevalenceofanxietyanddepressionamongpsychiatrichealthcareworkersduringthecovid19pandemicamalaysianperspective AT ailihanimhashim prevalenceofanxietyanddepressionamongpsychiatrichealthcareworkersduringthecovid19pandemicamalaysianperspective AT norzuraidazainal prevalenceofanxietyanddepressionamongpsychiatrichealthcareworkersduringthecovid19pandemicamalaysianperspective AT rusdiabdulrashid prevalenceofanxietyanddepressionamongpsychiatrichealthcareworkersduringthecovid19pandemicamalaysianperspective AT chongguanng prevalenceofanxietyanddepressionamongpsychiatrichealthcareworkersduringthecovid19pandemicamalaysianperspective AT mahmouddanaee prevalenceofanxietyanddepressionamongpsychiatrichealthcareworkersduringthecovid19pandemicamalaysianperspective AT nurulwafahussain prevalenceofanxietyanddepressionamongpsychiatrichealthcareworkersduringthecovid19pandemicamalaysianperspective AT ahmadhatimsulaiman prevalenceofanxietyanddepressionamongpsychiatrichealthcareworkersduringthecovid19pandemicamalaysianperspective |