A comparative study of the psychological impacts of tasks related and unrelated to COVID-19 on nurses: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: This study assessed the psychological impact of the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on university hos-pital nurses. It provides an assessment of mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, distress, and burnout of nurses dealing directly and indirectly with COVID-19. Methods: In a web-based, cross-sectional study, 111 nurses from Daegu Catholic University Hospital in Korea were enrolled from Au-gust 4 to August 9, 2020. Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, Impact of Event Scale-Revised, and Maslach Burnout Inventory were used to assess the psychological symptoms of depression, anxiety, psychological distress, and burnout among the study participants. Results: Of 111 nurses, 35 (31.5%), nine (8.1%), 26 (23.4%), and 49 (44.1%) experienced depression, anxiety, distress, and burnout, re-spectively. Nurses who performed COVID-19-related tasks were more likely to have moderate depression (related vs. unrelated, 52.0% vs. 25.6%; p= 0.037). There were no differences in anxiety, distress, and burnout between nurses with and without COVID-19-related tasks. More than 50% of the participants showed receptive and positive attitudes toward caring for COVID-19 patients. Conclusion: Nurses who performed COVID-19-related tasks had a higher risk of depression. There were no significant differences in anxiety, distress, and burnout between the two groups. Since nurses who perform COVID-19-related tasks are more prone to psycho-logical distress, continued psychiatric interventions are required for infectious disease outbreaks with a high mortality rate for health-care workers who are emotionally vulnerable.