Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jul-Sep:11:100759.
doi: 10.1016/j.cegh.2021.100759. Epub 2021 May 7.

How healthcare workers are coping with mental health challenges during COVID-19 pandemic? - A cross-sectional multi-countries study

Mila Nu Nu Htay  1 , Roy Rillera Marzo  2   3 , Rafidah Bahari  4 , Ayesha AlRifai  5 , Fatjona Kamberi  6 , Radwa Abdullah El-Abasiri  7 , Jeldah Mokeira Nyamache  8   9   10   11   12   13 , Htet Aung Hlaing  14 , Mayada Hassanein  15 , Soe Moe  1 , Adinegara Lutfi Abas  1 , Tin Tin Su  16
Affiliations

How healthcare workers are coping with mental health challenges during COVID-19 pandemic? - A cross-sectional multi-countries study

Mila Nu Nu Htay et al. Clin Epidemiol Glob Health. 2021 Jul-Sep.

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has a social and psychological impact among healthcare workers worldwide and appropriate coping strategies are essential to avoid the negative mental health effects. This study aimed to investigate the coping strategies among the healthcare workers from different countries and their attitude towards teamwork during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by using an online, web-based questionnaire, which was distributed to healthcare workers from 32 countries during April and May 2020. The respondents were recruited by the non-random convenience sampling method.

Results: A total of 2166 respondents responded to the survey and the majority were working in low- and middle-income countries. Among them, 36% were doctors, 24% were nurses and 40% worked in other healthcare sectors. More than 70% of the respondents answered that "getting family support" and "positive thinking" were coping methods for them during the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately half of the respondents worshiped according to their belief and conducted prayers (58.4%) and had adequate sleep and food intake (48.2%). The significant associations were observed between attitude score towards interprofessional teamwork and gender (p = 0.009), age (31-45 years) (p < 0.001), marital status (p < 0.001), occupation (p < 0.001), working experience (2-5 years) (p = 0.005), current workplace (clinics) (p = 0.002).

Conclusion: The local healthcare authorities should promote coping methods and develop an innovative way to encourage practicing among healthcare workers. Digital mental health support interventions or workplace mental health support teams should be accessible to protect mental wellbeing among healthcare workers.

Keywords: Adaptation; COVID-19; Coronavirus; Interprofessional relations; Mental health; Psychological.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Triggering and relieving factors for psychological impact among healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Data collection and participants flow chart of the study.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Geographic distribution of the respondents from 32 countries (n = 2166).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Varshney M., Parel J.T., Raizada N., Sarin S.K. Initial psychological impact of COVID-19 and its correlates in Indian Community: an online (FEEL-COVID) survey. PloS One. 2020;15(5) - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dai Y., Hu G., Xiong H., Qiu H., Yuan X. 2020. Psychological Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak on Healthcare Workers in China. 2020.03.03.20030874.
    1. Xiang Y.T., Yang Y., Li W., et al. Timely mental health care for the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak is urgently needed. Lancet Psychiatr. 2020;7(3):228–229. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nilima N., Kaushik S., Tiwary B., Pandey P.K. Psycho-social factors associated with the nationwide lockdown in India during COVID- 19 pandemic. Clin Epidemiol Glob Health. 2021;9:47–52. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lai J., Ma S., Wang Y., et al. Factors associated with mental health outcomes among health care workers exposed to coronavirus disease 2019. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(3) - PMC - PubMed