The Anxiety, Stress, Depression, and Insomnia Status of Healthcare Professionals during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Objective: The coronavirus pandemic has caused differences in the general health status of all individuals, especially healthcare workers. The most important affected parameters are nutrition, sleep, and mental situations, which are integral factors of the immune system and thus health. The purpose of the study; is to determine how healthcare professionals' insomnia, and mental health conditions are affected during the COVID-19 process.

Methods: A questionnaire including 109 questions related to the demographic properties of participants and also, insomnia severity, depression, anxiety, and stress scales, applies to 363 volunteer healthcare workers aged between 18 and 65 in the province of Istanbul.

Results: While 55.1% of the participants were women, 44.9% of them were men. According to the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) scores, it was reported that 52.9% of them had an insomnia sub-threshold and moderate and severe insomnia. It was determined that females’ ISI scores were higher than males’ (p<0.05). According to the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) scores, 39.9% of the participants had moderate, severe, and very severe depression and 56.5% had moderate, severe, and very severe anxiety, whereas 82.4% had normal stress levels. There was a statistically significant, positive, and moderate correlation between ISI scores and DASS-21 scores (p<0.05). Also, a negative and moderate correlation has been found between DASS-21, ISI, and the degree of feeling healthy.

Conclusion: The findings are limited because the COVID-19 pandemic process is variable and, most of the participants are non-frontline healthcare workers. More research is required on healthcare workers to determine the relationship between their nutrition, insomnia, depression, anxiety, and stress levels.