Psychological impact of COVID- 19 outbreak on health care professionals working at the Pakistan institute of medical sciences, Islamabad

Abstract

Objective:  To assess anxiety and depression in healthcare professionals who are at high risk of exposure during the corona virus outbreak. 
Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study was performed from April 21, 2020 to June 21, 2020 at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Islamabad. The number of healthcare professionals was selected using a simple random sampling technique from medicine and allied and surgical and allied. Standard SOPs were followed by both researchers and participants as per WHO and MOH guidelines.
Self administered questionnaire in which anxious thoughts regarding Covid 19 were assessed. Reliable and validated research tools were used which included: a) Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD-S), for evaluating level of anxiety and depression, b) Bradford Somatic Inventory (BSI), this assesses the somatic
symptoms associated with anxiety and depression.
Results: The study results on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale indicate that overall, 76.47 % of the respondents showed the positive symptoms of anxiety. Among them 25.73% were males and 50.73% were females.  Overall, 4.65 % of respondents were facing depression, in which 2.69% pare females whereas 1.96 % were males. Scores on Bradford Somatic Inventory reveal that 0ut of 119 females 97 were found to have somatic symptoms, while out of 289 males 103 had somatic complaints. A total of 200 participants were found positive for somatic symptoms.
Conclusion: It is concluded that there is a need for developing guidelines for healthcare professionals about effectively dealing in a health emergency situation like outbreak of this pandemic.