Coping with depression and anxiety in Egyptian physicians during COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: Middle East Current Psychiatry Vol. 27; no. 1; pp. 1 - 7
• Main Authors: Khalaf, Ola Osama, Khalil, Mohamed A., Abdelmaksoud, Reham
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 11.11.2020; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Academic degrees; Anxiety; Chronic diseases; Chronic illnesses; Coping; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Depression; Divorce; Egypt; Epidemics; Gender; Healthcare; Males; Medical personnel; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental health; Pandemics; Physicians; Psychiatry; Public health; Stress; Stress (Psychology); Stress management; Working hours; Egypt; COVID-19; Physicians; Egypt; Healthcare; Depression; Anxiety; Coping; Stress
• ISSN: 2090-5416; 2090-5408; 2090-5416
• DOI: 10.1186/s43045-020-00070-9

Background The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency with a negative impact on mental health. Healthcare workers are one of the most vulnerable groups to psychological stress in pandemics especially COVID-19. In this cross-sectional study, we assessed depression, stress, and coping among a sample of Egyptian physicians using an electronic survey. It included demographic data; Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 Items (DASS-21); and Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS). Results We found that the majority of the sample were females (61.2%), in medical specialties (51.2%), and living with vulnerable family members (92.4 %). The majority (63%) suffered from severe or extremely severe depression, 77.6% had extremely severe anxiety, and 72% suffered from stress. BRCS showed that only 17.1% had high resilient coping. Female physicians had significantly higher depression, anxiety, and stress scores of DASS than male physicians ( p = 0.001, < 0.001, and < 0.001, respectively). The anxiety scale was significantly higher in those with chronic diseases ( p = 0.040) while the stress scale was lower significantly in those with higher academic degree ( p = 0.034). Age had a significantly negative correlation with DASS anxiety ( p = 0.031) and stress scores ( p = 0.037). The BRCS score had a significantly negative correlation with the depression, anxiety, and stress scales of DASS ( p = 0.018, 0.014, and 0.007 respectively). Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic has a negative impact on the psychological well-being of the studied Egyptian physicians. Prophylactic measures should be implemented to avoid development of psychiatric symptoms in physicians.