Level of anxiety among healthcare providers during COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia: cross-sectional study

PeerJ

article

Abbas Al Mutair¹  Alya Al Mutairi⁴  Yasmine Alabbasi⁵  Abbas Shamsan⁶  Sana Al-Mahmoud⁷  Saad Alhumaid⁸  Muhammad zeshan Arshad⁹  Mansour Awad^1,10  Ali Rabaan^1,11 

[1] College of Nursing, Princess Norah University;School of Nursing, University of Wollongong;Research Center, Almoosa Specialist Hospital;Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Taibah University;Maternity and Child Health Nursing Department, College of Nursing, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University;Research Center, Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group;Imam Abdurrahman Bin Faisal University;Administration of Pharmaceutical Care, Al-Ahsa Health Cluster, Ministry of Health;Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad;Commitment Administration, General Directorate of Health Affairs, Medina, Medina, Ministry of Health;Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare;Department of Public Health and Nutrition, the University of Haripur

关键词: COVID-19;    Anxiety;    Healthcare provider;    Mental health;    Health care facilities;    Saudi Arabia;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.12119

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Background The burden of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted widely on the healthcare providers physically and mentally. Many healthcare providers are exposed to psychological stressors due to their high risk of contracting the virus. Aims This study aimed to measure the level of anxiety among healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. In addition, this study aimed to measure the level of anxiety based on demographic characteristics. Method A cross-sectional survey was employed to recruit a convenience sample of healthcare providers. A pencil and paper self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from demographic and generalized anxiety disorder GAD-7 data. However, this study received written informed consent from participants of the study. In addition, the study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group (IRB Log No. RC20.06.88-03). Results A total of 650 participants were recruited, results of GAD-7 showed that 43.5%, 28.9% and 27.5% of healthcare providers in Saudi Arabia experienced mild, moderate and severe anxiety, respectively, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results indicated that age, health specialty, nationality, and sleeping disorders before COVID-19 were associated with anxiety levels. Conclusion The generalized anxiety among healthcare providers in Saudi Arabia was mild. Older healthcare providers were found to have a higher level of anxiety compared to other participating healthcare providers. Several factors may contribute to a higher level of anxiety including age, socioeconomic status, marital status, having chronic conditions, and sleeping disorder before the COVID-19 pandemic. To further understand the level of anxiety among healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia, longitudinal and mixed-method research is needed.

【 授权许可】

CC BY