Can living with COVID-19 patients in a hospital increase anxiety levels? A survey-based single-center study in Peru

Abstract

Introduction: Anxiety can affect front-line healthcare workers (HCWs) during the COVID-19 pandemic mainly in settings with influencing factors. Living with COVID-19 patients in hospital settings could affect mental health during lockdown. The present study aimed to estimate the anxiety levels of HCWs of the care center for COVID-19 Villa Panamericana during the first outbreak of COVID-19 in Peru.Methods: This is a descriptive and correlational study. Ninety-six HCWs were enrolled in this study (mean age 30±5.6 years). The care center for COVID-19 Villa Panamericana houses COVID-19 patients and HCWs in the same environment. We used the 14-item Hamilton anxiety rating scale questionnaire. Professionals were interviewed directly at the VP-19 rest towers. SPSS V.23 were used to analyze the data.Results: Fifty-four (56.3%) were male and the most frequent age group was 26-35 years (81.3%). Thirty-nine (40.6%) were nurses, 28 (29.2%) were nursing technicians, 15 (15.6%) were physicians, and 14 (14.6%) were medical technologists. Of the total, 66 (68.8%) HCWs had a mild level of anxiety, while 6 (6.3%) had severe anxiety. Medical technologists and nursing technicians had the highest level of severe anxiety (14.3% and 7.1%), while nurses had the highest level of mild anxiety (76.9%). We report that 32 (33.3%) HCWs had COVID-19 while 93.7% had symptoms of anxiety [3(9.4%) mild to moderate, 21(65.6 %) moderate to severe, and 6(18.8%) severe]. We found a significant difference in anxiety levels between HCWs with and without COVID-19 (p=0.001).Conclusions: Levels of moderate and severe anxiety significantly increased in HCWs infected with COVID-19 during their coexistence with COVID-19 patients in the health center that houses both at the same time.

The Age of Young Nurses Is a Predictor of Burnout Syndrome during the Care of Patients with COVID-19

“…In this cohort, nurses exhibiting emotional exhaustion were also observed to be 55% highly and 32% moderately stressed, while those with depersonalization were 73% stressed. At this point, we emphasize the importance of conducting interregional studies because, despite strategies for the prevention and control of COVID-19, the health realities facing the pandemic vary, as demonstrated by previous studies [ 32 , 33 , 34 ].…”

“…This is especially important because, as some studies have described, these factors increase the likelihood of having BS in nursing [ 26 ]. Another limitation is that this study was focused on finding out the occupational factors of BS, but it is important to characterize its relationship with factors of mental health problems such as anxiety or depression, which have flourished during the pandemic [ 13 , 32 , 36 ].…”

“…Additionally, providing adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and other resources to prevent infection could help alleviate stress and anxiety in nurses working with COVID-19 patients [ 14 , 24 , 25 , 32 , 37 ]. This could also include training and education on infection prevention and control.…”

Assessing empathy in healthcare services: a systematic review of South American healthcare workers’ and patients’ perceptions

“…The empathy during the COVID-19 pandemic was not evaluated, which generated a global crisis that negatively affected healthcare professionals, who had a higher prevalence of mental disorders such as anxiety and depression (60,72,73). It also led to a lack of communication between professionals and patients due to workload, resulting in deficient empathy-centered care (74).…”