The fear of COVID-19 among health care professionals: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective. Working conditions for health professionals can be affected significantly by pandemic caused by COVID-19. The aims of the study were to identify the level of fear of COVID-19 in hospital staff. Methods. This study was carried out in a convenience sample of nurses and medical doctors from four public regional hospital in Slovenia. This was a cross-sectional survey study in which a fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19s) was used. The questionnaire was completed by 110 participants. Results: The sample mean score was 16.3±6.1. More than half of the study participants (61%) considered it as low levels of fear, and 39% of the participants considered it as high levels of fear. The employees with less than 27 weeks experience with COVID-19 had a higher mean FCV-19s score (17.6±6.3) than the employees with more than 27 weeks of COVID-19 experience (14.7±5.4) and we found a significant difference of p=0.006. Statistically significant differences were also found between employees regarding COVID-19 units (intensive care unit - ICU and acute unit -AU; item "afraid of losing life"). Conclusions. Regardless of the duration of the epidemic, fear is still present. Experience reduces fear among employees.