Abstract :
Background: The first laboratory?confirmed case of the novel coronavirus (COVID?19) was reported in India on 30 January 2020. Since then, there has been exponential growth in cases, with India now ranking second in the global burden of COVID?19. The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is the greatest burden faced by the healthcare system at present. A major part of this burden is being tackled by the resident doctors working in various teaching hospitals all over the world.This study is aimed at assessment of psychological symptoms in resident doctors posted in COVID 19 wards with respect age, gender and speciality department to which they belong.
Materials and Methods: After the permission from Institutional ethics Committee, about 75 resident doctors from various specialty departments posted in COVID-19 wards were taken for study. Each participant after informed consent has been individually interviewed telephonically along with the special semi-structured proforma prepared for the study. Clinical data was collected. After application of rating scales HAM-A & HAM-D to each individual, result are obtained.
Results: The survey is completed with total 75 resident doctors working in COVID 19 wards in NKPSIMS & LMH, Nagpur. Out of total n= 75, 44 were males (58.66%), and 31 were females (41.33%). The mean age of participants being = 26.82(±SD=2) years and total 7 days of duty done in COVID-19 wards. 75(100%) resident doctors reported anxiety symptoms and 20(26.66%) resident doctors reported mild depressive symptoms. 73 (97.33%) resident doctors had mild severity of anxiety and 2(2.66%) had moderate severity of anxiety. Resident doctors belonging to various speciality departments showed differing severity of symptoms with Obstetrics and Gynaecology department having maximum instance of anxiety and depressive features and Respiratory medicine and Orthopaedics having least instance of anxiety and depressive features.
Conclusion: Resident doctors working in COVID-19 wards are susceptible for anxiety, depressive symptoms and insomniaMild form of both anxiety and depression are both prevalent. Psychological symptoms are strongly correlated with female gender as compared to male gender. Type of specialty department also affects the tendency to develop psychological symptoms in resident doctors posted in COVID19 wards. Age or past history of psychiatric illness is not found to be significantly associated with either anxiety or depression.
Keyword :
Covid-19, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Anxiety