Abstract
Objective: The outbreak of the COVID-19 caused not only particularly large public health problems but also great psychological distress especially for healthcare workers (HCW). In this regard, this study aimed to determine whether there is a correlation between the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the anxiety level determined by measuring the stress level of HCW and the stress level calculated by looking at the level of cortisol in saliva.
Method: The correlation was made between the level of stress (measured by looking at the cortisol level of saliva samples taken from HCW, who work at hospital 24 hours uninterruptedly) and the anxiety level of HCW for the last one week (measured by BAI comprised of 21 questions). These two procedures were applied simultaneously. SPSS 26.0 program was used in the analysis. The limit of significance was taken as a p-value<0.05 and in dual direction.
Result: 90 HCW, 51.1% and 48.9% of whom were female and male, respectively, participated in the study. Participants' age range was 21-49 with an average of 28.6 (SD, ± 5.3). Body Mass Index (BMI) value was 14-35 with an average of 24.5 (SD, ± 3.90). Of the HCW, 46.7% (n=42) and 53.3% (n=48) were working at the emergency department and other departments, respectively. Of the HCW whose professional experience was 1-24 years (4.6 years on average), 64.4% (n=58) and 35.6% (n=32) were doctors and nurses, respectively. BAI scores in females were significantly higher than those measured in males (p<0.05). Morning cortisol value of the group working at the emergency department was significantly lower than that of HCW working at other departments (p<0.05). Evening cortisol value of the HCW working at the emergency department was significantly higher than that of HCW working at other departments (p<0.05). BAI scores of those either working at the emergency department or not didn’t show a significant difference (p<0.05). Morning cortisol value for doctors was significantly higher than that of nurses (p<0.05).
Conclusion: This study revealed that doctors and nurses working at such relatively busier departments as emergency departments etc. gained experience towards stress and they were much more prepared than those working at other departments to deal with stress during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Keywords
COVID-19, Outbreak, Stress, Healthcare workers, Cortisol, Saliva