Mental health impacts among health workers during COVID-19 in a low resource setting: a cross-sectional survey from Nepal

Khanal, Pratik; Devkota, Navin; Dahal, Minakshi; Paudel, Kiran; Joshi, D

doi:10.1186/s12992-020-00621-z

Cited by 255 publications

(302 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…The shortage of PPE wasn't statistically significant in our study, which might be due to adopting the participants with the current situation. However, several studies have reported this as a considerable source of distress among healthcare workers [25,29,30] and have specified the need to equip these frontline workers with adequate resources which can strengthen their overall work performance with better psychological outcomes [25,31]. Lack of protective measures can create a sense of insecurity and thus imposes the healthcare workers to higher exposure to infections.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological distress among health service providers during COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal

Kafle

Shrestha²,

Baniya

et al. 2021

PLoS ONE

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Background COVID-19 pandemic has provoked a wide variety of psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, and panic disorders, especially among health service providers. Due to a greater risk of exposure to the virus, increased working hours, and fear of infecting their families, health service providers are more vulnerable to emotional distress than the general population during this pandemic. This online survey attempts to assess the psychological impact of COVID-19 and its associated variables among healthcare workers in Nepal. Materials and methods For data collection purposes, Covid-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index (CPDI) Questionnaire, was used whose content validity was verified by Shanghai mental health center. Data for the survey were collected from 11 to 24 October 2020 which was extracted to Microsoft Excel-13 and analyzed. Results A total of 254 health care workers from different provinces of the country participated in this study with a mean age of 26.01(± 4.46) years. A majority 46.9% (n = 119) of the participants were not distressed (score ≤28) while 46.5% (n = 118) were mild to moderately distressed (score >28 to ≤51) and 6.7% (n = 17) were severely distressed (score ≥52) due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Female participants (p = 0.004) and participants who were doctors by profession (p = 0.001) experienced significantly more distress. Conclusions COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the psychological distress amongst health care service providers. The findings from the present study may highlight the need for constructing and implementing appropriate plans and policies by relevant stakeholders that will help to mitigate the distress among health service providers in the current pandemic so that we can have an efficient frontline health workforce to tackle this worse situation.

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Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological distress among health service providers during COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal

Kafle

Shrestha²,

Baniya

et al. 2021

PLoS ONE

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“…12 A study conducted in Nepal showed that 41.9% of health workers had symptoms of anxiety, 37.5% had depressive symptoms, 33.9% had symptoms of insomnia and more than half of the health workers faced stigma. 13 A study in India reported that the knowledge and practice towards COVID-19 pandemic among people is good but still there was a gap in right perception. 14 Similarly, in the USA and the UK, people had important misconceptions about COVID-19 whereas, in Nepal, a study reported that the overall knowledge of COVID-19 was high and the majority of people had a positive perception towards universal safety measures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions and experiences of the public regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal: a qualitative study using phenomenological analysis

Bhatt¹,

Bhatt

Gurung

et al. 2020

BMJ Open

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ObjectivesPerceptions of people regarding COVID-19 influences their health behaviour in terms of seeking public health services. This helps the government in planning appropriate public health strategies. Therefore, this study intends to explore the perceptions of people towards COVID-19 and their experiences during the pandemic in Nepal.Design, setting and participantsThis qualitative study was conducted among the public in Kathmandu, Kanchanpur, Bajura and Jhapa districts of Nepal. Eight focus group discussions and 40 in-depth interviews were conducted by using a maximum variation sampling method.ResultsThe findings were organised into the following themes: General understanding of COVID-19, Disease prevention, Source of information and misconceptions, Expectation and challenges; and Personal and societal consequences of COVID-19, social distancing and lockdown. There was a good general understanding among respondents about COVID-19, personal preventive measures and population-level strategies. They responded that the use of masks, sanitisers, handwashing and proper lockdown would help to prevent the disease. The respondents acknowledged the vital role of media in increasing awareness. Participants also expressed concerns over the misleading news spread by some media. The lack of social interaction, isolation and loss of income were raised as pertinent issues by the participants as potentially leading to psychological consequences. Health workers and public both raised concerns over inadequate Personal Protective Equipment, under-prepared health system, unorganised public quarantine centres, and public violation of lockdownConclusionsThis study reports participants’ views on disease prevention measures such as maintaining personal hygiene, adhering to physical distancing, and using personal protective equipments. Additionally, it illuminates the confusion among public due to conflicting public health messages from different sources of information which was deemed as misleading by the participants. This research sheds light on people’s perspectives and experiences that can inform population-targeted policies in the future.

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“…Pooled prevalence of anxietyA total of 31 studies reported the prevalence of anxiety during COVID-19 in different samples from South Asian countries[46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56]58,59,[61][62][63][64][65][66]68,69,[71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80] . These studies used different scales to measureanxiety in respective samples, including the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale (n = 16), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale -21 Items (DASS-21) scales (n = 9), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) (n = 4), Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) (n = 1), and Self Reporting Questionnaire 20-items (SRQ-20) scale (n = 1).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of anxiety and depression in South Asia during COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Hossain¹,

Rahman²,

Trisha³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted biopsychosocial health and wellbeing globally. Pre-pandemic studies suggest a high prevalence of common mental disorders, including anxiety and depression in South Asian countries, which may aggravate during this pandemic. This systematic meta-analytic review was conducted to estimate the pooled prevalence of anxiety and depression in South Asian countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: We systematically searched for cross-sectional studies on eight major bibliographic databases and additional sources up to October 12, 2020, that reported the prevalence of anxiety or depression in any of the eight South Asian countries. A random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled proportion of anxiety and depression. Results: A total of 35 studies representing 41,402 participants were included in this review. The pooled prevalence of anxiety in 31 studies with a pooled sample of 28,877 was 41.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 34.7-48.1, I2 = 99.18%). Moreover, the pooled prevalence of depression was 34.1% (95% CI: 28.9-39.4, I2 = 99%) among 37,437 participants in 28 studies. Among the South Asian countries, India had a higher number of studies, whereas Bangladesh and Pakistan had a higher pooled prevalence of anxiety and depression. No studies were identified from Afghanistan, Bhutan, and Maldives. Studies in this review had high heterogeneity and varying prevalence across sub-groups. Conclusion: South Asian countries have high prevalence rates of anxiety and depression, suggesting a heavy psychosocial burden during this pandemic. Clinical and public mental health interventions should be prioritized alongside improving the social determinants of mental health in these countries. Lastly, a low number of studies with high heterogeneity requires further research exploring the psychosocial epidemiology during COVID-19, which may inform better mental health policymaking and practice in South Asia.

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Mental health impacts among health workers during COVID-19 in a low resource setting: a cross-sectional survey from Nepal

Cited by 255 publications

References 44 publications

Psychological distress among health service providers during COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal

Psychological distress among health service providers during COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal

Perceptions and experiences of the public regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal: a qualitative study using phenomenological analysis

Prevalence of anxiety and depression in South Asia during COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

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