Mental health concerns of interns posted in COVID-19-affected regions of Maharashtra

Abstract

Background: Healthcare providers faced the challenge of managing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-infected patients. At the onset of the spread of the coronavirus infection across the globe, awareness of the treatment modalities was poor. Interns were relatively new to treating patients as they had just started their clinical postings in February or March 2020. Working in the COVID-19 wards with the sudden influx of a large number of patients, treating them with ever-changing guidelines did cause increased physical and mental stress. Thus, to understand the impact of coronavirus infection on interns this study was conducted.

Materials and methods: An online survey was conducted among interns of various medical colleges of Nagpur, Mumbai, Pune, and Miraj using Google Forms. Participation was anonymous and voluntary. Responses were accepted for 1 week from March 27, 2020, till April 3, 2020. Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7 Scale (GAD-7) (9) were used to assess anxiety and depression.

Result: Our study showed that 36.3% of the interns who were posted for COVID-19 duty had depression, whereas 34% had anxiety symptoms. Anxiety and depression were comparable in interns posted for COVID-19 duty and those posted in other clinical departments. Young age, female gender, and perceived risk of contracting COVID-19 were the predictors for anxiety and depression.

Conclusion: There was a high level of anxiety and depression among interns working in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic irrespective of whether they were posted for COVID-19 duty or not. Reporting such information is important to plan further management of mental health needs.

Keywords: Anxiety; COVID-19; depression; interns.