TY - JOUR
T1 - Psychological distress reported by healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study
AU - Altwaijri, Yasmin
AU - Bilal, Lisa
AU - Almeharish, Amani
AU - BinMuammar, Abdulrahman
AU - DeVol, Edward
AU - Hyder, Sanaa
AU - Naseem, Mohammad Talal
AU - Alfattani, Areej
AU - AlShehri, Abdussalam Ali
AU - Almatrafi, Rami
N1 - Funding Information:
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC): https://www.sabic.com/; King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST): https:// www.kacst.edu.sa/; Abraaj Capital: http://www. abraaj.com/; Ministry of Health (Saudi Arabia): https://www.moh.gov.sa/en; King Saud University: https://ksu.edu.sa/en/; King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre: https://www.kfshrc. edu.sa/; Ministry of Economy and Planning: https:// www.mep.gov.sa/en; General Authority for Statistics: https://www.stats.gov.sa/en None of the funders had any role in the design of the study, data analysis, interpretation of results, or preparation of this article. The SNMHS is carried out in conjunction with the World Health Organization World Mental Health (WMH) Survey Initiative. We thank the staff of the WMH Data Collection Coordination Centre in the Survey Research Center at University of Michigan and the WMH Data Analysis Coordination Centre in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School for assistance with design, instrumentation, fieldwork, and consultation on data analysis of the SNMHS. A complete list of all WMH publications can be found at http://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/wmh. We would like to thank all the survey participants, and hospital staff across the country that helped in coordinating this survey’s data collection. We are also grateful to Cielo Mendiola, and Sukina Qanbar at the Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Scientific Computing Department, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh for their administrative support.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright: © 2022 Altwaijri et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2022/6/3
Y1 - 2022/6/3
N2 - Introduction Few studies have considered the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). We estimated the prevalence and severity of psychological distress and characterized predisposing risk factors among HCWs in KSA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of 1,985 HCWs from 6 hospitals across the country designated with caring for COVID-19 patients between April 16 and June 21, 2020. Our data analysis was performed using logistic regressions. Ordered logistic regressions were also performed using forward stepwise model selection to explore the effects of risk factors on psychological distress. Results The prevalence of psychological distress reported by HCWs in KSA was high, ranging from mild-moderate to severe in severity. Younger HCWs, women, those in contact with COVID-19 patients, and those who either had loved ones affected or who were themselves affected by COVID-19 were the most at-risk of psychological distress. Risk factors such as insomnia, loneliness, fear of transmission, and separation from loved ones most significantly predicted elevated levels of distress among HCWs. Conclusions Increasing psychological distress was commonly reported by HCWs during the early months of COVID-19 pandemic in KSA. Public health policy makers and mental health professionals must give special attention to risk factors that predispose HCWs in KSA to psychological distress.
AB - Introduction Few studies have considered the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). We estimated the prevalence and severity of psychological distress and characterized predisposing risk factors among HCWs in KSA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of 1,985 HCWs from 6 hospitals across the country designated with caring for COVID-19 patients between April 16 and June 21, 2020. Our data analysis was performed using logistic regressions. Ordered logistic regressions were also performed using forward stepwise model selection to explore the effects of risk factors on psychological distress. Results The prevalence of psychological distress reported by HCWs in KSA was high, ranging from mild-moderate to severe in severity. Younger HCWs, women, those in contact with COVID-19 patients, and those who either had loved ones affected or who were themselves affected by COVID-19 were the most at-risk of psychological distress. Risk factors such as insomnia, loneliness, fear of transmission, and separation from loved ones most significantly predicted elevated levels of distress among HCWs. Conclusions Increasing psychological distress was commonly reported by HCWs during the early months of COVID-19 pandemic in KSA. Public health policy makers and mental health professionals must give special attention to risk factors that predispose HCWs in KSA to psychological distress.
KW - COVID-19/epidemiology
KW - Cross-Sectional Studies
KW - Female
KW - Health Personnel
KW - Humans
KW - Pandemics
KW - Psychological Distress
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - Saudi Arabia/epidemiology
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0268976
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0268976
M3 - Article
C2 - 35657938
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 17
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
M1 - e0268976
ER -
