Stress and Associated Factors among Frontline Healthcare Workers in the COVID-19 Epicenter of Da Nang City, Vietnam

Abstract

Frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) involved in the COVID-19 response have a higher risk of experiencing psychosocial distress amidst the pandemic. Between July and September 2020, a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic appeared in Vietnam with Da Nang city being the epicenter. During the outbreak, HCWs were quarantined within the health facilities in a bid to limit the spread of COVID-19 to their respective communities. Using the stress component of the 21-item Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), we assessed the level of stress among HCWs in Da Nang city. Between 30 August and 15 September 2020, 746 frontline HCWs were recruited to fill in an online structured questionnaire. Overall, 44.6% of participants experienced increased stress and 18.9% severe or extremely severe stress. In multivariable analysis, increased stress was associated with longer working hours (OR = 1.012; 95% CI: 1.004–1.019), working in health facilities providing COVID-19 treatment (OR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.04–2.39), having direct contact with patients or their bio-samples (physicians, nurses and laboratory workers; OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.02–1.99), low confidence in the available personal protective equipment (OR = 0.846; 95% CI: 0.744–0.962) and low knowledge on COVID-19 prevention and treatment (OR = 0.853; 95% CI: 0.739–0.986). In conclusion, many frontline HCWs experienced increased stress during the COVID-19 outbreak in Da Nang city. Reducing working time, providing essential personal protective equipment and enhancing the knowledge on COVID-19 will help to reduce this stress. Moreover, extra support is needed for HCWs who are directly exposed to COVID-19 patients.

The Impact of the Implementation of Preventive Measures Due to COVID-19 on Work Design and Early Childhood Professionals’ Well-Being—A Qualitative Study

“…Until now, research has failed to comprehensively investigate the child-care work environment during the pandemic, but focused instead on the stress levels of parents and caregivers in need of child care during COVID-19 [39][40][41][42]. Moreover, recent pandemicrelated stress and mental health research was predominately concerned with health care workers resulting in ample literature [43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52]. While surveys endeavored to holistically explore ECPs' work practices and well-being during the pandemic, they lacked scientific rigor [53,54].…”

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“…Health care workers identified the importance of PPE being suitable and well stocked, having regular training and receiving consistent guidelines, issues also raised by other HCWs (Ananda-Rajah et al, 2021; Nguyen et al, 2021; Vindrola-Padros et al, 2020). Some thought the guidelines were not sufficiently strict or timely as early in the pandemic masks were not comprehensively or effectively used.…”

Adherence to COVID-19 Preventive Measures among Dental Care Workers in Vietnam: An Online Cross-Sectional Survey

“…In addition to physical health impacts, the COVID-19 pandemic also has a huge impact on the mental health of medical staff, causing depression, anxiety, and insomnia [ 7 ]. A study in Da Nang city, during the second wave of the pandemic, showed an increase in the prevalence of stress among frontline HCWs [ 8 ].…”