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. 2022 Jan 31:11:119.
doi: 10.12688/f1000research.76032.2. eCollection 2022.

Assessment of fear, anxiety, obsession and functional impairment due to COVID-19 amongst health-care workers and trainees: A cross-sectional study in Nepal

Alok Atreya  1 , Samata Nepal  1 , Ritesh G Menezes  2 , Qazi Shurjeel  3 , Sana Qazi  3 , Muskaan Doulat Ram  3 , Muhammad Shariq Usman  4 , Sristi Ghimire  1 , Anu Marhatta  1 , Md Nazmul Islam  5 , Arbin Dev Sapkota  1 , Chandra Kumari Garbuja  1
Affiliations

Assessment of fear, anxiety, obsession and functional impairment due to COVID-19 amongst health-care workers and trainees: A cross-sectional study in Nepal

Alok Atreya et al. F1000Res. .

Abstract

Background: The emergence of the COVID-19 epidemic threw the world into turmoil. The medical community bore the brunt of the pandemic's toll. Long work hours, and a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and social support all had an influence on mental health.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among Lumbini Medical College Teaching Hospital students and employees in Palpa, Nepal. Data entailing their demographic details, pre-existing comorbidities, or death in the family due to COVID-19 was collected using a self-administered survey. In addition, the level of fear, anxiety, obsession, and functional impairment due to COVID-19 was recorded using previously validated respective scales.

Results: In total, 403 health-care workers and trainees participated in our study. The mean age of the study participants was 23±4 years, and more than half of them (n=262, 65%) were females. A significant association was found between fear score with age (p-value=0.04), gender (p-value <0.01) and occupation (p-value<0.001). The participants suffering from chronic diseases (p-value=0.36), were not found to be significantly obsessed with COVID-19. Age (p-value=0.34), was not found to be significantly associated with higher anxiety levels. Nursing students suffered from a significantly greater functional impairment than other health-care professionals (mean rank score=269.15, p-value < 0.001). A moderately positive correlation was observed between fear, anxiety, obsession, and functional impairment scales.

Conclusion: This study revealed various socio-demographic characteristics as risk factors for psychological stress in the people related to the health-care profession of Nepal during the COVID-19 pandemic. A viable answer to this quandary might be adequate psychosocial intervention by health-care authorities, increased social support, and the introduction of better mental health management measures for the front-line health-care workers.

Keywords: COVID-19; Nepal; SARS-CoV-2; anxiety; depression; health care workers.

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Conflict of interest statement

No competing interests were disclosed.

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