@Article{info:doi/10.2196/27469,
author="El Gindi, Hany
and Shalaby, Reham
and Gusnowski, April
and Vuong, Wesley
and Surood, Shireen
and Hrabok, Marianne
and Greenshaw, Andrew J
and Agyapong, Vincent",
title="The Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Physicians, Nurses, and Other Health Care Providers in Alberta: Cross-sectional Survey",
journal="JMIR Form Res",
year="2022",
month="Mar",
day="9",
volume="6",
number="3",
pages="e27469",
keywords="COVID-19; health care worker; mobile technology; Text4Hope; anxiety; depression; stress; pandemic; e-mental health; mental health; impact; physician; nurse; Canada",
abstract="Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, threats to mental health, psychological safety, and well-being are evident, particularly among the first responders and the health care staff. Objective: This study aims to examine the prevalence and potential predictors of the likely stress, generalized anxiety disorder, and major depressive disorder among health care workers (HCWs). Methods: A cross-sectional survey was used through a survey link sent to gather demographic information and responses on several self-report scales, including the Perceived Stress Scale, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 among HCWs enrolled in the Text4Hope program. Results: The result from this study suggests that during the COVID-19 pandemic, HCWs reported a high likelihood of moderate-to-high perceived stress (n=840, 81.2{\%}), moderate-to-severe anxiety (n=369, 38.6{\%}), and depression (n=317, 32.7{\%}) symptoms. Nurses and other HCWs were significantly more likely to report depressive symptoms compared to physicians (F(2, 159.47)=15.89, 95{\%} CI --5.05 to --2.04). Younger age groups of HCWs (≤30 years) were more prone to report likely stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms compared to HCWs 41-50 and >50 years old (odds ratio [OR] 1.82-3.03). Similarly, females and those who reported a lack of social support (separated/divorced and single) among HCWs had a higher likelihood to report likely stress and depressive symptoms, respectively (OR 1.8 and 1.6, respectively). Conclusions: This cross-sectional study explored a high level of mental health burdens during the COVID-19 pandemic among HCWs in Alberta. Levels of psychological symptoms were more noticeable in the female gender and the nursing profession. ",
issn="2561-326X",
doi="10.2196/27469",
url="https://formative.jmir.org/2022/3/e27469",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/27469",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34995203"
}