AUTHOR=Hayat Khezar , Arshed Muhammad , Fiaz Iqra , Afreen Urooj , Khan Faiz Ullah , Khan Tahir Abbas , Kadirhaz Muhtar , Shukar Sundus , Saeed Azwa , Gill Muhammad Rouf , Fang Yu 

TITLE=Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Health of Healthcare Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study From Pakistan

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.603602

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2021.603602

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Background: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly increased the rate of mortality and morbidity worldwide due to its rapid transmission rate. The mental health status of individuals could have a negative impact attributed to this global situation. Therefore, this study was intended to explore the depression and anxiety prevalence among healthcare workers (HCWs) of Pakistan during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was undertaken by administering a web-based questionnaire between May 2020 and June 2020. Two tools, including the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), were employed to measure anxiety and depression among HCWs. The data analyses were carried out using descriptive statistics, Man Whitney and Kruskal Wallis tests. 
Results: Of 1094 HCWs who participated in this online survey, 742 (67.8%) were physicians, followed by nurses (n=277, 25.3%) and pharmacists (n=75, 6.9%). The survey respondents had a mean depression and anxiety score of 5.49 + 4.22 and 8.32 + 4.28. A considerable number of HCWs (82.2%) utilized online psychological resources to deal with their psychological distress.  Female HCWs, physicians, frontline HCWs, and older adults were more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety (p<0.05). 
Conclusion: During the recent ongoing pandemic of COVID-19, there is a mild level of depression and anxiety among HCWs. Our findings call for urgent psychological interventions for vulnerable groups of HCWs.