Anxiety and Depression in Health Workers and General Population During COVID‐19 in IRAN: A Cross‐Sectional Study

Abstract

Background The COVID‐19 outbreak has exerted a great deal of psychological pressure on Iranian health workers and the general population. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of pandemic on anxiety and depression in Iranian population. Methods An online cross‐sectional study was conducted for the general public and healthcare workers in Iran using a questionnaire comprised of demographic questions and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Chi‐square test and univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were conducted. Results Of the 2045 participants, 1136 (65.6%) were considered to have moderate and severe anxiety symptoms, and 865 (42.3%) had moderate and severe depression symptoms. The prevalence of anxiety was higher in the females than in the males (OR = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.123‐1.643, P = .002); the prevalence of anxiety was significantly higher in those aged 30‐39 years than in other age‐groups (OR = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.123‐2.320, P = .001); furthermore, the prevalence of anxiety and depression was significantly higher in doctors and nurses compared with other occupations ((OR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.367‐2.491, P < .001) and (OR = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.154‐2.021, P = .003)). In addition, the prevalence of anxiety symptoms in the likely infected COVID‐19 group was higher than in the noninfected COVID‐19 group (OR = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.093‐1.654, P = .005). Conclusions Regarding the high prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms, especially among healthcare workers, appropriate psychological/psychiatric intervention necessitates.

Psychological distress among healthcare providers during COVID-19 in Asia: Systematic review and meta-analysis

“…A total of 159,194 healthcare providers from 23 different Asia countries were involved in this systematic review and meta-analysis. Almost half (n = 70) of the studies were conducted in China [ 8 , 11 , 23 – 90 ], followed by 15 studies in India [ 10 , 91 – 104 ], 11 studies in Turkey [ 105 – 115 ], 10 studies in Saudi Arabia [ 116 – 125 ], 6 studies in Pakistan [ 126 – 131 ], 4 studies in Indonesia [ 132 – 135 ] and Nepal [ 136 – 139 ] respectively, 3 studies in Malaysia [ 140 – 142 ], Singapore [ 143 – 145 ], Japan [ 146 – 148 ] and Iran [ 149 – 151 ] respectively with 2 studies in Oman [ 152 , 153 ], Jordan [ 154 , 155 ], Philippines [ 156 , 157 ] and Bangladesh [ 158 , 159 ] respectively. Besides, Korea [ 160 ], Qatar [ 161 ], and Iraq [ 162 ] which each had one study, there were also some multinational studies that were conducted, with 2 of them involving several countries in Asian Pacific [ 9 , 163 ] and another one involving both Egypt and Saudi Arabia [ 164 ] (Table A4 in S4 Table ).…”

“…About two thirds (n = 98) of the studies reported the data on depression [ 8 , 23 – 27 , 29 – 33 , 35 , 36 , 38 – 41 , 45 – 52 , 56 – 60 , 62 – 65 , 67 – 69 , 71 – 76 , 78 – 82 , 84 , 86 , 88 , 89 , 91 , 92 , 94 , 95 , 97 , 99 , 100 , 103 , 104 , 106 – 108 , 111 , 113 , 115 – 117 , 120 , 123 , 124 , 127 , 129 – 133 , 137 , 138 , 140 , 141 , 143 – 146 , 149 , 151 – 154 ,…”

“…A total of 117 out of 148 studies described the anxiety data in terms of frequency or percentage [ 8 , 10 , 11 , 24 – 27 , 30 – 33 , 35 – 42 , 45 – 56 , 58 – 60 , 62 – 65 , 67 – 69 , 71 – 76 , 78 – 82 , 84 , 86 , 88 – 95 , 99 , 100 , 103 – 114 , 116 – 118 , 120 , 122 – 135 , 137 – 141 , 143 – 145 , 149 , 151 – 154 , 156 – 165 ]. Tools that were used to screen for anxiety were Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), 2-item and 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-2& GAD-7), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale 14 items (HADS), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4), Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), Chinese Classification and the Diagnose Criterion of Mental Disorder (CCMD-3), State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Dispositional cancer worry scale, Symptom Checklist 90, and Beck Anxiety Scales (BAS).…”

The relationship between mental workload and job performance among Iranian nurses providing care to COVID‐19 patients: A cross‐sectional study

“…Other consequences of this pandemic included job burnout, increased health costs and psychological distress (fear, anxiety, depression, stress, insomnia, denial, anger, etc.) (Hassannia et al., 2020; Vizheh et al, 2020). High‐risk situations plus constant contact with contaminated environments, inadequate PPEs, lack of contact with the family members, frustration, prejudice, loneliness and exhaustion have been blamed for increased mental health problems in HCWs.…”

Prevalence of Psychological Impacts on Healthcare Providers during COVID-19 Pandemic in Asia

“…The studies were from Eastern Asia (n = 40)[8][9][10], South-eastern Asia (n = 5)[63][64][65][66][67], Southern Asia (n = 18)[68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85], Western Asia (n = 15)[4,17,[86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98] and combination of South-eastern and Southern Asia (n = 2)[99,100] (Supplementary TableS2). Studies from Eastern Asia came from China, Japan, and Korea.…”