Anxiety and Sleep Quality Levels of Emergency Medical Personnel and Factors Affecting Them During the Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic/COVID-19 Pandemisinde Acil Servis Calisanlarinin Anksiyete ve Uyku Kalitesi Duzeyleri ve Etkileyen Faktorlerin Belirlenmesi

• Published in: Journal of Turkish Sleep Medicine Vol. 9; no. 1; p. 27
• Main Authors: Sayik, Dilek, Acikgoz, Ayfer, Kaya, Seyhmus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Galenos Yayinevi Tic. Ltd 01.03.2022
• Subjects: Anxiety; Control; Demographic aspects; Emergency medical personnel; Epidemics; Health aspects; Psychological aspects; Risk factors; Sleep disorders; Social aspects; Turkey
• ISSN: 2148-1504; 2148-1504
• DOI: 10.4274/jtsm.galenos.2021.20982

Objective: The study was conducted to determine the anxiety and sleep quality levels of emergency medical service personnel as well as factors affecting them during the Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study included 247 medical professionals working in emergency medical services. Results: The mean age of the medical personnel was 32.62[+ or -]7.36 years, of whom 54.3% were females, 49.8% were married, 89.9% were university graduates and 47.8% nurse. Of the medical staff, 21.9% had mild anxiety, 15.8% had moderate anxiety, and 33.2% had high anxiety. Pittsburgh sleep quality index scores of all participants were >5. A strong and positive relationship (p<0.001) was found between the anxiety level (19.24[+ or -]15.67) and sleep quality (14.39[+ or -]3.13) of participants. The study revealed that healthcare personnel who worked 24 hour shifts, smoked and/or drank alcohol, had a psychological disorder, and lacked adequate protective equipment had high anxiety scores and poor sleep quality. Moreover, healthcare professionals who experienced problems with childcare, thought that working conditions affect their children negatively, and were afraid of COVID-19 transmission to themselves and their families had high anxiety scores and poor sleep quality. Conclusion: During the pandemic, monitoring the emergency medical personnels' health and work is important to determine their levels of anxiety and sleep quality and to provide necessary psychological support. Keywords: Emergency medical services, anxiety, COVID-19 pandemic, medical personnel, sleep quality Amac: Bu calisma, Koronavirus hastaligi-2019 (COVID-19) pandemi doneminde acil servis calisanlarinin anksiyete ve uyku kalitesi duzeyleri ile etkileyen faktorleri belirlemek amaciyla yapilmistir. Gerec ve Yontem: Tanimlayici tipte olan bu arastirma acil servislerde calisan 247 saglik personeli ile yapilmistir. Bulgular: Yas ortalamalari 32,62[+ or -]7,36 olan saglik personellerinin %54,3'u (n=134) kadin, %49,8'i (n=123) evli, %89,9'u (n=222) universite mezunu ve %47,8'i (n=118) hemsire idi. Saglik personelinin %21,9'u hafif, %15,8'i orta ve %33,2'si yuksek anksiyete duzeyine sahipti. Katilimcilarin tamaminin Pittsburgh uyku kalitesi indeks puani 5'in uzerinde idi. Katilimcilarin anksiyete duzeyi (19,24[+ or -]15,67) ile uyku kalitesi (14,39[+ or -]3,13) arasinda kuvvetli ve pozitif yonde iliski saptandi. Calismada; 24 saatlik vardiyalar halinde calisan, sigara ve/veya alkol kullanan, psikolojik bir hastaligi olan ve yeterli koruyucu ekipmana sahip olmadigini belirten saglik personellerinin anksiyete puanlarinin yuksek, uyku kalitelerinin kotu oldugu saptandi. Ek olarak, cocuklarinin bakimi ile ilgili sorun yasayan, calisma sartlarinin cocuklarini olumsuz etkiledigini dusunen, kendisine ve ailesine COVID-19 bulasmasindan korkan saglik personellerinin anksiyete puanlari yuksek, uyku kaliteleri kotu idi. Sonuc: Pandemi doneminde saglik personellerinin calisma seklinin yeniden gozden gecirilmesi, anksiyete ve uyku kalitelerinin belirlenerek gerekli psikolojik destegin saglanmasi onemlidir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Acil servis, anksiyete, COVID-19 pandemisi, saglik personeli, uyku kalitesi