Anxiety Level Assessment of Anesthesia Providers During COVID-19 Pandemic

Overview

Healthcare providers caring for acutely ill or critical patients are exposed to constant stressful situations that can lead to psychiatric manifestations. Depression and anxiety derived from stressful work environments can negatively impact the ability to perform at full capacity directly affecting the quality of care the patients receive. The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 infection created a sudden and deep crisis involving every sector worldwide not only affecting sick patients and the healthcare system but also the economy, politics, food, and drugs and social interactions. Hospital workers have experienced the crisis first-hand and have witnessed constant death, a decrease in personal protective equipment supplies, exposure to contracting the virus, risk of contagion to others, and overburdened hospital capacity. The aim of this study is to evaluate how the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected healthcare workers. Specifically, to evaluate levels of anxiety and identify factors contributing to anxiety on faculty, residents, and nurse anesthetists in our institution.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected multiple aspects of everyday life worldwide. Pandemics unleash a societal sense of fear and anxiety. Hence, the COVID-19 pandemic have had a profound impact on mental health. This has led to substantial research on this topic; however, literature evaluating the mental health effects of the pandemic on small groups of people is scarce. Healthcare workers have undergone significant psychological pressure and stress during viral surges of this pandemic. Furthermore, the levels of anxiety vary as the number of cases varies between regions and across time. After approval by the Institutional Review Board (Protocol # 160167), a cross-sectional study was conducted to identify anxiety levels during the COVID-19 pandemic among anesthesia providers at our institution. The participants included Faculty anesthesiologists, anesthesiology residents, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, and Nurse Anesthetists students. Data were collected from August 26 to September 15, 2020. A questionnaire containing the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale, followed by a set of questions with binary answers to evaluate the presence or absence of anxiety-related factors during the COVID-19 pandemic, was administered through direct approach and voluntary participation of the subjects.