Does Pandemic Anxiety Affect Urology Health Care Workers?
- 21 January 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by S. Karger AG in Urologia Internationalis
- Vol. 105 (3-4), 192-198
- https://doi.org/10.1159/000512911
Abstract
Purpose: To assess anxiety, stress level, and perception of safety during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in health care workers (HCWs) of one of Germany’s largest urology university clinics. Methods: A cross-sectional study among urological HCWs was performed. HCWs were surveyed for anxiety about the pandemic, stress level and current workload, fear of coronavirus infection, current perception of safety at work, and attitude towards protective equipment and tests for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Results: Sixty-three HCWs filled in the questionnaire. Overall anxiety of infection with COVID-19 is at a median of 4.7 with no statistically significant difference between nurses and physicians (p = 0.0749). Safety at work reaches a median of 6 out of 10. In fact, the highest fear in 56.7% (31/63) of the personnel is to get infected by a colleague tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 despite wearing surgical face masks. A proportion of 55.7 and 74.6% highly favor swabs for SARS-CoV-2 on a regular basis in HCWs and patients, respectively (p = 0.0001). Workload in the urology department is clearly reduced during the pandemic (physicians 39.3% vs. nurses 32.2%, p = 0.0001) and 57.4% do not feel distress at all; only 27.9% express mental distress. Conclusion: During the pandemic, urology HCWs perceive lower burden by workload and deem themselves at low risk of infection. However, the greatest anxiety is related to infection by a SARS-CoV-2-positive colleague, despite reciprocal protection by surgical face masks. This highlights a relevant mental stress and uncertainty towards management of infected HCWs, calling for increased education and psychological support.Keywords
This publication has 22 references indexed in Scilit:
- Development and clinical application of a rapid IgM-IgG combined antibody test for SARS-CoV-2 infection diagnosisJournal of Medical Virology, 2020
- Transmission of COVID-19 in the terminal stages of the incubation period: A familial clusterInternational Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2020
- Potential Presymptomatic Transmission of SARS-CoV-2, Zhejiang Province, China, 2020Emerging Infectious Diseases, 2020
- Asymptomatic cases in a family cluster with SARS-CoV-2 infectionThe Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2020
- Social Capital and Sleep Quality in Individuals Who Self-Isolated for 14 Days During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in January 2020 in ChinaMedical Science Monitor, 2020
- Clinical Characteristics of 138 Hospitalized Patients With 2019 Novel Coronavirus–Infected Pneumonia in Wuhan, ChinaJAMA, 2020
- The Effects of Social Support on Sleep Quality of Medical Staff Treating Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in January and February 2020 in ChinaMedical Science Monitor, 2020
- Transmission of 2019-nCoV Infection from an Asymptomatic Contact in GermanyThe New England Journal of Medicine, 2020
- Mental health care for medical staff in China during the COVID-19 outbreakThe Lancet Psychiatry, 2020
- Protecting health-care workers from subclinical coronavirus infectionThe Lancet Respiratory Medicine, 2020