








key: cord-290137-3jyhc63d
authors: Szepietowski, Jacek C; Krajewski, Piotr; Biłynicki‐Birula, Rafał; PoznaŃski, Paweł; Krajewska, Magdalena; Rymaszewska, Joanna; Matusiak, Łukasz
title: Mental health status of health care workers during the COVID‐19 outbreak in Poland: one region, two different settings
date: 2020-06-17
journal: Dermatol Ther
DOI: 10.1111/dth.13855
sha: 
doc_id: 290137
cord_uid: 3jyhc63d

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Phone: +48-601534853 Email: jacek.szepietowski@umed.wroc.pl

During the COVID-19 pandemic health care workers (HCW) have been demonstrated to have higher level of anxiety and depression (1) . Lu et al. (2) suggested that HCW of the departments with high-risk contact with SARS-CoV-2 infected patients demonstrated higher mental health impact. Here, we present our data on mental health status of HCW of two various departments, including university department of dermatology, in Wroclaw, Poland, having different settings. Such analysis has not been reported so far.Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology is located in a separate building which is exclusively dedicated for patients with cutaneous diseases. Department of Nephrology and Transplantation Medicine is a part of complex hospital with many departments; however, no infectious disease ward is located there. There were several HCW and patients infected with SARS-Cov-2 in this hospital (in the Department of Nephrology two HCW and six patients were infected). There were no SARS-CoV-2 infections among HCW and patients of the Department of Dermatology. Up till now (data on the 7 th of June 2020) in the region of Wroclaw 2708 infected people and 117 deaths due to COVID-19 have been reported.

We invited 123 HCW of both departments (58 HCW from the Department of Dermatology and 65 HCW from the Department of Nephrology) to participate in the study. They were asked to fill in the following questionnaires: General Anxiety Disorder -7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire -9 (PHQ-9) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The following cut-off points to suspect anxiety and depression were employed: GAD-7 -≥5 points, PHQ-9 -≥10 points, HADS -≥8 points (for each subscale), respectively (3) (4) (5) . The obtained results were statistically analysed with Chi 2 Pearson test and Mann-Witney U test were applicable (Statistica 13; Statsoft, Tulsa, OK, USA). P value less than 0.05 was regarded significant.

Response rate was assessed as 97.6% (96% at the Department of Dermatology and 98.5% at the Department of Nephrology). The detailed characteristics of the study group is given in Table 1 . There was no difference in terms of sex, physician/nurse, chronic comorbidities distribution, as well as the mean age and duration of professional activity between HCW of both evaluated departments.

Analysing the whole studied group anxiety was suspected among 29.2% (HADS-A) -45% (GAD-7), while depression in 14.2% (HADS-D) -20% (PHQ-9). The only significant difference (p=0.04) between sexes was found in the prevalence of anxiety assessed with GAD-7 (M/F ratio: 0.54).

There were no significant differences in the frequency of both anxiety and depression with regard to the type of HCW (physician/nurse), however, more nurses achieved the cut-offs for both anxiety and depression (Table 2) . Anxiety, assessed with HADS-A, and depression, evaluated with PHQ-9, was significantly more prevalent (p<0.01 for both scales) among HCW reporting chronic comorbidities ( Table 2) . Despite of the higher frequency of depression, assessed with HADS-D in HCW of the Department of Nephrology (p=0.03), we were unable to find any other significant differences in anxiety and depression occurrence in HCW between both departments of different settings (Table 2) .

Our data are on the prevalence of depression and anxiety in HCW are in concordance to these recently reported in pooled analysis of depression and anxiety (1), 29.2-45.0% vs. 10.5-44.7% and 14.2-20.0% vs. 10.6%-50.4%, respectively. There were no marked distinctions in mental health of HCW between both analysed departments. The difference between our study and Chinese colleagues might be due to higher number of infected patients in high-risk contact departments (2) . It seems that, at least in our country, neither setting nor its different specificity, but general COVID-19 pandemic situation may have crucial influence on the mental health status of HCW. Accepted Article Table 2 Percentage (number) of health care workers fulfilling the criteria for suspected anxiety (GAD-7, HADS-A) and depression (PHQ-9 HADS-D) 

Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and insomnia among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Psychological status of medical workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7

Optimal cut-off score for diagnosing depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9): a meta-analysis

Is the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) a valid measure in a general population 65-80 years old? A psychometric evaluation study. Health Qual Life Outcomes



