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Case Reports
. 2023;21(1):383-394.
doi: 10.1007/s11469-021-00600-4. Epub 2021 Jul 30.

Comparison of Fear of COVID-19 in Medical and Nonmedical Personnel in a Public Hospital in Mexico: a Brief Report

Francisco José Barbosa-Camacho  1 , Benjamín García-Reyna  2 , Guillermo Alonso Cervantes-Cardona  3 , Enrique Cervantes-Pérez  4 , Efraín Chavarria-Avila  3 , Kevin Josue Pintor-Belmontes  1 , Bertha Georgina Guzmán-Ramírez  1 , Aldo Bernal-Hernández  1 , Juan Carlos Ibarrola-Peña  1 , Clotilde Fuentes-Orozco  1 , Alejandro González-Ojeda  1 , Gabino Cervantes-Guevara  2   5
Affiliations
Case Reports

Comparison of Fear of COVID-19 in Medical and Nonmedical Personnel in a Public Hospital in Mexico: a Brief Report

Francisco José Barbosa-Camacho et al. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2023.

Abstract

The world is social distancing, and compulsory confinement has caused stress, psychological instability, stigmatization, fear, and discrimination in the general population. In this cross-sectional survey study, we administered the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) to hospital medical and nonmedical personnel. A total of 1216 participants were surveyed from May 25 to May 29 of 2020. We asked all the staff for their participation in the study, and physical copies of the survey were distributed to the staff willing to participate. All surveys were answered anonymously. We found that the global FCV-19S mean score was 16.4 ± 6.1, with a significant difference between women and men's scores. Medical students presented higher scores than experienced medical personnel. Additionally, the medical and nursing personnel presented a higher level of fear than hospital staff who did not work directly with COVID-19 patients. Our findings suggest that greater knowledge of medicine or infectious diseases could decrease the overall psychological impact of the pandemic disease.

Keywords: COVID-19; Fear; Fear assessment; Fear of COVID-19 Scale; Psychological distress.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of InterestThe authors declare no competing interests.

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