PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AND FEAR OF COVID-19 IN PRIMARY HEALTHCARE WORKERS


Creative Commons License

Ataç Ö., Turhan M. U., Demiray S., Altay M., Süer S., Türk A., ...Daha Fazla

Eskişehir Türk dünyası uygulama ve araştırma merkezi halk sağlığı dergisi (Online), cilt.8, sa.2, ss.194-205, 2023 (Hakemli Dergi) identifier

Özet

Primary healthcare workers as the front-line fighters against the pandemic have high risk for mental problems. The aim of this study is to investigate the predictors of psychological distress and the fear of COVID-19 in the primary health care workers. This cross-sectional study was conducted among the primary health care workers in Antalya. The data was collected using a self-administered hardcopy questionnaire which included three parts as participants’ sociodemographic characteristics, Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and Fear of COVID-19 Scale. 65.7% of the participants are female and 40.4% are nurses-midwives. 42.2% of the participants’ departments were changed during the pandemic. Fear of COVID-19 Scale, GSI and PST scores of the females are significantly higher than males’ (all comparisons, p<0.001). Participants who changed their departments during the pandemic have significantly higher scores in all scales than who did not (all comparisons, p <0.05). Fear of COVID-19, GSI and PSDI scores of those who live in the same house with people aged 65 and over are significantly higher than those who do not (all comparisons, p<0.05). There is a moderate and significant correlation (r=0.411 and p<0.001) between the BSI scores and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale. The front-line healthcare workers are at high risk of psychological distress and the fear of being infected during the COVID-19 pandemic. The positive correlation between fear of COVID-19 and frequency of psychiatric symptoms is concluded as that the remedial interventions in one can also have a positive effect on the other.