Mental health of health care workers during the hour of crisis - A study from tertiary care hospital in North India

Babita Ghai; Rajni Sharma; Lokesh Saini; Jaivinder Yadav; Krishan Kumar; Akhilesh Sharma; Priyanka Madaan; Ankita Bhati; Pooja Tyagi; Suman Yadav; Mohit Bhutani; Divyansh Sharma; Vikas Suri

doi:10.4103/ipj.ipj_125_21

Mental health of health care workers during the hour of crisis - A study from tertiary care hospital in North India

Ind Psychiatry J. 2023 Jan-Jun;32(1):172-178. doi: 10.4103/ipj.ipj_125_21. Epub 2023 Apr 14.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Chandigarh, India.
² Department of Pediatrics, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Chandigarh, India.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Chandigarh, India.
⁴ Department of School of Public Health, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Amity University, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India.
⁶ Department of Anatomy, PGIMS, Rohtak, India.
⁷ Department of Cardiology, Amcare Hospital, Zirakpur, Punjab, India.
⁸ Department of Psychology, GGDSD College, Chandigarh, India.
⁹ Department of Internal Medicine, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Chandigarh, India.

Abstract

Background and aims: This cross-sectional study aimed to analyze the psychosocial, behavioral, and sleep impact of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic on healthcare workers (HCWs) at a tertiary-care hospital in Northern India.

Materials and methods: An online questionnaire including three psychological scales - peritraumatic distress inventory (PDI), insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and Depression anxiety stress scale was circulated among the HCWs at a tertiary-care hospital in Northern India.

Results: Three hundred and ninety-six HCWs (Mean age standard deviation: 34.8 [8.1%] years; 181 females) responded. Place of posting was active COVID area (27.2%), reserve active COVID team (23.2%), trained reserve pool (29.5%), and non-COVID areas (19.9%). More than half of all the respondents (51%) had abnormal PDI score (>14) with a propensity to develop posttraumatic stress disorder. Furthermore, there was a significantly higher prevalence of abnormal PDI scores in those involved in active COVID care units (74%) versus non-COVID care unit (24%, P = 0.001). More than 60% of all the respondents had abnormal ISI score suggesting significant insomnia. Stress was seen in 71% of all the respondents while 82% were anxious and 77% participants had depressive symptoms. Hence, the psychological morbidity among the HCWs was high.

Conclusion: Our study found a much higher prevalence of peritraumatic distress, insomnia, anxiety, stress, and depression among the HCWs, more so in those working in COVID areas. Factors indigenous to Indian population in terms of psychological health must be studied and addressed to reduce this psychological morbidity since the battle with COVID is long.

Keywords: Coronavirus disease-19; healthcare workers; pandemic; psychological; sleep.