Factors associated with depression, anxiety, and stress among healthcare workers in Kedah during early recovery movement control order of COVID-19 pandemic

• Main Author: Nordin, Ahmad Syazwan Ahmad
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: R Medicine
• Online Access: http://eprints.usm.my/52167/1/Ahmad%20Syazwan%20Ahmad%20Nordin-24%20pages.pdf; http://eprints.usm.my/52167/

Background: Mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in many ways. Depression, anxiety, and stress (DAS) often use to described mental health status worldwide. Objective: This study analysed the prevalence and factors associated with DAS of HCWs in Kedah, Malaysia, during the early recovery movement control order (RMCO) of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: This cross-sectional study used secondary data of 981 respondents between 1 July 2020 and 31 August 2020, randomly sampled from mental health surveillance data of HCWs from the Kedah Health State Department during RMCO in 2020. Socio-demographic factors, occupational characteristics, and health backgrounds were extracted and analysed using SPSS version 26. The data were analysed using descriptive analysis followed by simple and multiple logistic regression. Result: Prevalence of Depression, Anxiety and Stress of HCWs in Kedah during early RMCO of COVID-19 pandemic are 8.4%, 17.1% and 6.4% respectively. Factors associated with depression are age (in years) (Adjusted OR = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.93 to 0.99, p-value <0.015), and hospital as workplace (Adjusted OR = 1.88; 95% CI: 1.19 to 2.97, p-value = 0.007). Anxiety also associated with hospital as workplace (Adjusted OR = 1.91; 95% CI: 1.36 to 2.68, p-value < 0.001). Factors associated with stress are age (in years) (Adjusted OR = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.93 to 0.997, p-value = 0.035) and those with degree/postgraduate education level (Adjusted OR = 8.43 95% CI: 1.95 to 36.37, p-value = 0.004). Conclusions: These findings indicate that the mental health of HCWs in Kedah is affected during COVID-19 pandemic. Systematic, ongoing mental health surveillance helps identify those affected. The existing medical condition has no association with the HCWs' mental health. Further research is needed to ascertain the effect of pandemics and explore the root cause of psychological implications of HCWs and how to manage it effectively.