Reliability Analysis
An analysis of the internal consistency of the Likert scale questionnaire showed a Cronbach's alpha, of.890 which indicates a very high level of internal consistency for this scale with this specific sample.
Reliability Statistics
|
Cronbach's Alpha
|
N of Items
|
.890
|
24
|
Sociodemographic Characteristics
Of the total number of participants, 101(40.9%) were females and 146 (59.1%) were males. The average age of the participants was 41.7. Of the persons who took the questionnaire, 72 (29.1%) participants worked in COVID-dedicated units and 175 (70.09%) worked non-COVID units. Table 1 provides some statistics about the participants’ occupation.
Table 1. Participants’ Occupation
Occupation:
|
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
Valid
|
Autonomous hospital
|
22
|
8.9
|
8.9
|
8.9
|
Civil Surgeon Office
|
1
|
.4
|
.4
|
9.3
|
CMH
|
1
|
.4
|
.4
|
9.7
|
Corporate Hospital
|
19
|
7.7
|
7.7
|
17.4
|
Development Agency
|
1
|
.4
|
.4
|
17.8
|
Government hospital
|
27
|
10.9
|
10.9
|
28.7
|
Government job
|
1
|
.4
|
.4
|
29.1
|
Government Medical College
|
82
|
33.2
|
33.2
|
62.3
|
Lien
|
1
|
.4
|
.4
|
62.8
|
marie stops (oncall)
|
1
|
.4
|
.4
|
63.2
|
marrie stops(on call)
|
1
|
.4
|
.4
|
63.6
|
Medical University
|
7
|
2.8
|
2.8
|
66.4
|
Private clinic
|
8
|
3.2
|
3.2
|
69.6
|
Private Medical College
|
48
|
19.4
|
19.4
|
89.1
|
Private practice
|
21
|
8.5
|
8.5
|
97.6
|
Scarborough general hospital, Toronto
|
1
|
.4
|
.4
|
98.0
|
Study break
|
1
|
.4
|
.4
|
98.4
|
UN
|
1
|
.4
|
.4
|
98.8
|
UN Agency
|
1
|
.4
|
.4
|
99.2
|
UNFPA
|
1
|
.4
|
.4
|
99.6
|
WHO
|
1
|
.4
|
.4
|
100.0
|
Total
|
247
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
COVID Events
Of the total number of participants, 61 (24.7%) reported to have tested positive for COVID-19, 126 (51%) tested negative, and as much as 60 (24.3%) participants have not been tested. A significant number of participants,180, (72.9%) knew someone close to them who had tested positive for COVID-19 and 212 (85.8%) knew someone from their workplace who tested positive for the disease. 125 (50.6%) participants knew someone close to them who had died from COVID-19.
While we assumed medical doctors working in regular units are at a higher risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2compared to medical doctors working in COVID-dedicated units, our sample showed no such differences, as shown below (Table 2).
Table 2. Answers to the Question “Have you tested positive for Covid-19?”
|
Do you work in Covid dedicated unit?
|
Frequency
|
Percent
|
Valid Percent
|
Cumulative Percent
|
No
|
Valid
|
No
|
87
|
49.7
|
49.7
|
49.7
|
Not tested
|
48
|
27.4
|
27.4
|
77.1
|
Yes
|
40
|
22.9
|
22.9
|
100.0
|
Total
|
175
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
Yes
|
Valid
|
No
|
39
|
54.2
|
54.2
|
54.2
|
Not tested
|
12
|
16.7
|
16.7
|
70.8
|
Yes
|
21
|
29.2
|
29.2
|
100.0
|
Total
|
72
|
100.0
|
100.0
|
|
Participants’ Physical and Mental Health
All Likert scale answers were combined into a single stress variable. Descriptive statistics indicated a moderate pandemic-related stress level (M = 3.32, SD = .61).A t-Student test was performed to assess whether a significant difference in pandemic-related stress exists between individuals who work in COVID-19 unit and those who work in regular units. The analysis did not found a statistically significant difference between the two groups (t245 = .244, p = .807).
Three other t-Student tests were conducted to test whether there was a statistically significant difference in pandemic-related stress between 1) those who had tested positive for COVID-19 and those who had not 2) those who knew a close individual who had tested positive for COVID-19 and those who did not 3) those who knew someone close to them who had died from COVID-19 and those who did not, and 4) those who knew someone at work who got infected with the new coronavirus and those who did not. Table 3 summarizes our main findings.
Table 3. Group Differences in Pandemic-Related Stress
Group
|
Significance Level(C.I = .95)
|
Individuals who had tested positive for COVID-19 and those who had not
|
2.37
|
Those who knew a closed individual who had tested positive for COVID-19 and those who did not
|
1.53
|
Those who knew someone close to them who had died from COVID-19 and those who did not
|
7.66
|
Those who knew someone at work who got infected with the new coronavirus and those who did not
|
2.57
|
As shown in the table, the analyses found no statistically significant differences in pandemic-related stress between the compared groups.