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Research Article
Coping with Depression and Anxiety in Egyptian Physicians during COVID-19 Pandemic
Reham Abdelmaksoud
Psychiatry Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3781-6068
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Declarations:
Declarations
- This study involved human subjects.
- The author confirmed that all appropriate ethical guidelines for the use of human subjects have been followed, any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee review has been obtained, and information about the IRB/ethics committee is included in the manuscript.
- The author has confirmed that all necessary patient/participant consent or assent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. If the IRB/ethics committee waived the requirement for patient/participant consent or assent, an explanation for the waiver is included in the text.
- The author has confirmed that a statement listing potential conflicts of interest or lack thereof is included in the text.
Background: COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency with negative impact on mental health. Health care workers are one of the most vulnerable groups to psychological stress in Pandemics especially COVID -19. In this cross-sectional study, we assessed the depression, stress and coping among a sample of Egyptian Physicians using an electronic survey was sent. It included demographic data, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 Items (DASS-21) and Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS).
Results: We found that the majority of the sample were females (61.2%), medical specialties (51.2%) and (92.4 %) were living with vulnerable family members. The majority (63%) suffered from severe or extremely severe depression, 77.6% had extremely severe anxiety and 72% suffered from stress. BRCS showed that only 17.1% had high resilient coping. Female physicians were significantly higher in the depression, anxiety and stress scales of DASS than male physicians (p= 0.001, <0.001 and <0.001 respectively). Anxiety scale was significantly higher in those with chronic diseases (p= 0.040) while the stress scale was lower significantly in those with higher academic degree (p= 0.034). Age had significantly negative correlation with DASS anxiety (p= 0.031) and stress scores (p= 0.037). The BRCS score had significantly negative correlation with the depression, anxiety and stress scales of DASS (p= 0.018, 0.014 and 0.007 respectively).
Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic has a negative impact on the psychological well-being of the studied Egyptian physicians. Prophylactic measures should be implemented to avoid development of psychiatric symptoms in physicians.
Keywords
Covid-19, Healthcare, Physicians, Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Coping, Egypt
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This is a preprint. It has not completed peer review.
Research Article
Coping with Depression and Anxiety in Egyptian Physicians during COVID-19 Pandemic
Reham Abdelmaksoud
Psychiatry Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3781-6068
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
History
CURRENT STATUS: Posted
Version 1
Posted 29 Sep, 2020
No community comments so far
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
Subject Areas
Psychiatry
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Declarations:
Declarations
- This study involved human subjects.
- The author confirmed that all appropriate ethical guidelines for the use of human subjects have been followed, any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee review has been obtained, and information about the IRB/ethics committee is included in the manuscript.
- The author has confirmed that all necessary patient/participant consent or assent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. If the IRB/ethics committee waived the requirement for patient/participant consent or assent, an explanation for the waiver is included in the text.
- The author has confirmed that a statement listing potential conflicts of interest or lack thereof is included in the text.
Background: COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency with negative impact on mental health. Health care workers are one of the most vulnerable groups to psychological stress in Pandemics especially COVID -19. In this cross-sectional study, we assessed the depression, stress and coping among a sample of Egyptian Physicians using an electronic survey was sent. It included demographic data, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 Items (DASS-21) and Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS).
Results: We found that the majority of the sample were females (61.2%), medical specialties (51.2%) and (92.4 %) were living with vulnerable family members. The majority (63%) suffered from severe or extremely severe depression, 77.6% had extremely severe anxiety and 72% suffered from stress. BRCS showed that only 17.1% had high resilient coping. Female physicians were significantly higher in the depression, anxiety and stress scales of DASS than male physicians (p= 0.001, <0.001 and <0.001 respectively). Anxiety scale was significantly higher in those with chronic diseases (p= 0.040) while the stress scale was lower significantly in those with higher academic degree (p= 0.034). Age had significantly negative correlation with DASS anxiety (p= 0.031) and stress scores (p= 0.037). The BRCS score had significantly negative correlation with the depression, anxiety and stress scales of DASS (p= 0.018, 0.014 and 0.007 respectively).
Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic has a negative impact on the psychological well-being of the studied Egyptian physicians. Prophylactic measures should be implemented to avoid development of psychiatric symptoms in physicians.