Abstract

Background: The medical staff who fought on the front line against the COVID- 19 pandemic were more affected by its physical and psychological dangers than others.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the level of depression, stress, anxiety, and job burnout of the medical staff in the COVID-19 wards of Hamedan Hospitals.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the study population consisted of all medical staff working in educational and treatment centers affiliated with Hamedan University of Medical Sciences in 2019, of which 173 were medical staff in COVID-19 wards, and 173 were medical staff included by systematic random sampling from other wards. Data were collected using a demographic information checklist, Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, perceived stress scale, and Maslach Burnout Inventory. The data were analyzed with chi-square coefficient tests and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with SPSS-22 software.

Results: About 26.9% of medical staff in COVID-19 wards had high job burnout, significantly different from those in non-COVID-19 wards (p < 0.05). The incidence of depression was 67.5% among the medical staff in COVID-19 wards, including twenty-nine people (18.5%) with mild depression, forty-two (26.7%) with moderate depression, and thirtyfive (22.3%) with severe depression. Thirty people (19.1%) had mild anxiety, forty-three (27.4%) had moderate anxiety, and three (3.3%) had severe anxiety. In addition, the prevalence of perceived stress was 94.3%. A statistically significant difference was observed between depression, anxiety, perceived stress, and job burnout in the medical staff of COVID-19 wards and other wards (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: Stress, anxiety, depression, and job burnout among staff working in COVID- 19 wards differ significantly from other hospital wards employees. In similar circumstances to this pandemic, paying extra attention to medical staff is essential due to their role and the effect of their health on society’s health.