Background: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly increased the rate of mortality and morbidity worldwide due to its rapid transmission rate. The mental health status of individuals could have a negative impact attributed to this global situation. Therefore, this study was intended to explore the symptoms of depression and anxiety among healthcare workers (HCWs) of Pakistan during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken by administering a web-based questionnaire between May and June 2020. Two tools, including the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), were employed to measure anxiety and depression symptoms among HCWs. The data analyses were carried out using descriptive statistics, Man Whitney, and Kruskal Wallis tests. Results: Of 1094 HCWs who participated in this online survey, 742 (67.8%) were physicians, followed by nurses ( n = 277, 25.3%) and pharmacists ( n = 75, 6.9%). The survey respondents had a median depression and anxiety score of 5.00 (7.00–3.00) and 8.00 (11.00–5.00), respectively. A considerable number of HCWs (82.2%) utilized online psychological resources to deal with their psychological distress. Female HCWs, nurses, frontline HCWs, and HCWs aged 30–49 years were more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety ( p < 0.05). Conclusion: During the recent ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, there is a mild level of symptoms of depression and anxiety among HCWs. Our findings call for urgent psychological interventions for vulnerable groups of Pakistani HCWs.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, coronavirus, Anxiety, Depression, Healthcare workers, mental health, 【초록키워드】 pandemic, Mortality, COVID-19 pandemic, Symptom, healthcare worker, Novel coronavirus, Nurses, HCWs, morbidity, Psychological distress, Mild, Physicians, Psychological, group, resource, questionnaire, Analysis, Nurse, cross-sectional survey, HCW, Psychological intervention, individual, GAD-7, pandemic of COVID-19, transmission rate, significantly increased, carried, median, Generalized, Man, participated, symptoms of depression, 【제목키워드】 Impact,