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Impact of COVID-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals
*Corresponding author: Maria Therese, Department of Nursing, Mother Theresa Post Graduate and Research Institute of Health Sciences, Pudhuchery, India. srjessymariya@gmail.com
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Received: ,
Accepted: ,
How to cite this article: Abraham J, Therese M. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals. Glob J Health Sci Res. 2024;2:31-6. doi: 10.25259/GJHSR_51_2023
Abstract
Objectives:
The objectives of the study were to assess the impact of Covid-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals, to compare the level of impact of Covid-19 pandemic among different healthcare professionals, and to find the association of impact of Covid-19 pandemic with the selected demographic variables of the healthcare professionals with selected demographic variables.
Material and Methods:
The research approach used was quantitative and research design adopted for the study was descriptive research design. A sample of 60 healthcare professionals was selected by stratified random sampling and the data were collected using questionnaire. The data collected were tabulated and analyzed using descriptive statistics.
Results:
The result of our study showed that 5% of the healthcare professionals were mildly affected, 48.3% of healthcare professionals were moderately affected, and 46.7% of healthcare professionals were severely affected. There was no significant difference found between the levels of impact among different healthcare professionals. There is a significant association between the level of impact of Covid-19 and the type of family.
Conclusion:
Study found that Covid-19 had an impact on healthcare professionals.
Keywords
Pandemic
Healthcare professional
Covid-19
Impact
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Coronavirus disease is an infectious disease caused by the Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus. It was originally identified in China in 2019 and became pandemic in 2020. The coronavirus is a large family of virus that cause illness that ranging from the common cold to more severe disease such as middle east respiratory syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome.[1] The name coronavirus is derived from the Latin word corona, meaning “Crown or Halo” which refers to the characteristics appearance of a crown or a solar corona around the visions due to the surface covering in club shaped protein spikes.[2]
Impact refers to an outcome or influence. The Covid-19 pandemic has an impact on medical workers on a variety of levels, including moral, educational, social, psychological, and emotional. An extraordinary burden on healthcare services has been caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, a health crisis. The medical community has a number of difficulties in treating people with Covid-19 following the epidemic.
Stress is one of several concerns that Covid-19 causes in the teaching profession. The community and society are affected by this stress in a variety of ways, both positively and negatively. Over the world, there is an increasing demand for and attention on safeguarding medical personnel by managing exhaustion and minimizing its negative effects on their physical, social, psychological, spiritual, moral, and professional lives.[3,4]
The literature on the health consequences of healthcare professionals providing care to Covid-19 victims is proliferating, and no review is available to guide practitioners and leaders on the efficacy of various interventions.[5-7] This scoping study aims to summarize the evidence of the physical, social, psychological, spiritual, moral, and professional impacts of Covid-19 pandemic on healthcare professionals.
The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly burdened the world. The Covid-19 pandemic is a healthcare emergency that has had hitherto unheard-of effects on medical personnel. Doctors treating patients with Covid-19 face a number of difficulties in the midst of the unprecedented crisis. It is crucial to evaluate the mental stress and general well-being of healthcare practitioners. Being a vulnerable population, this study aimed to assess the impacts of Covid-19 among healthcare professionals in terms of its physical, psychological, emotional, social, educational, and moral aspects.
Statement of the problem
A study to assess the impact of Covid-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals in a selected hospital at Kottayam District.
Objectives
The objectives of this study were as follows:
To assess the impacts of Covid-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals
To compare the level of impact of Covid-19 pandemic among different healthcare professionals
To find the association between the level of impact of Covid-19 pandemic with the selected demographic variables of the healthcare professionals.
Hypothesis
H0: There will be a significant level of impact of Covid-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals at 0.05 level of significance.
H1: There will be a significant level of difference between impacts of Covid-19 among different healthcare professionals at 0.05 level of significance.
Operational definitions
Assess – Assess means make a judgment about the nature or quality of someone or something. In this study, “assess” refers to determining the physical, psychological, social, educational, spiritual, and moral impacts of Covid-19 pandemic.
Impact – Impact means the powerful effect that something has on somebody or something. In this study, “impact” refers to the effects occurred among healthcare professionals in different aspects such as physical, psychological, social, educational, spiritual, and moral areas due to Covid-19.
Healthcare professionals – In this study, “healthcare professionals” refers to doctors, paramedicals, nurses, nursing tutors, and nursing students in a selected hospital at Kottayam.
Covid-19 pandemic – An infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Assumptions
Healthcare professionals might have an impact of Covid-19 in different levels of their life.
Delimitations
This study is limited to healthcare professionals in a selected hospital in Kottayam District.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Research approach
A quantitative survey approach was considered as an appropriate research approach for this study.
Research design
Descriptive research design was used to assess and compare the level of impact of Covid-19 among different healthcare professionals.
Variables
In this study, demographic variables are age, gender, marital status, religion, profession, type of family, area of residence, affected with Covid-19, vaccination status, and comorbid condition.
Setting of the study
This study was selected at a hospital in Kottayam district, Kerala.
Population of the study
Sample: All healthcare professionals in selected hospitals in Kottayam district.
Sample and sampling technique
In this study, samples are healthcare professionals in a selected hospital in Kottayam district.
Sampling technique in the present study is stratified random sampling.
Sample size
The samples are selected by the method of stratified random sampling technique. The total sample size is 60. It includes:
5 Doctors
16 Nurses
6 Paramedical
5 Nursing tutors
28 Nursing students.
Sampling criteria
Inclusion criteria
The following criteria were included in the study:
Healthcare professionals who are working in selected hospital at Kottayam district.
Healthcare professionals who are willing to participate in the study.
Exclusion criteria
The following criteria were excluded from the study:
Healthcare professionals who are not present at the time of data collection.
Instruments used
Data collection instrument consists of two parts:
| Section A: | Structured questionnaire for assessing the demographic variables. |
| Section B: | A structured rating scale for assessing the impacts of Covid-19 in healthcare professionals. |
Data collection method
The permission was obtained from the legal authorities of Mercy College of Nursing and Mercy Hospital, Kottayam. The samples were selected by method of stratified random sampling technique. The method of study was explained and informed consent was obtained from the participants. The study was conducted on January 9, 2023. The participants were allowed with 20 min to answer.
RESULTS
Analysis and interpretation
The analysis of the data is organized and presented under the following sections:
| Section A: | Distribution of the demographic variables of healthcare professionals [Table 1]. |
| Section B: | Level of impact of Covid-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals. |
| Section C: | Comparison of level of impact of Covid-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals [Table 3]. |
| Section D: | Association of the level of impact of Covid-19 pandemic with demographic variables of healthcare professionals [Table 4]. |
Section A: Distribution of the demographic variables of healthcare professionals
| S. No. | Sample characteristics | Frequency | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Age | ||
| 16–25 | 31 | 51.6 | |
| 26–35 | 13 | 21.7 | |
| 36–45 | 13 | 21.7 | |
| Above 45 | 3 | 5 | |
| 2. | Gender | ||
| Male | 6 | 10 | |
| Female | 54 | 90 | |
| Others | 0 | 0 | |
| 3. | Marital status | ||
| Married | 28 | 46.7 | |
| Single | 32 | 53.3 | |
| Others | 0 | 0 | |
| 4. | Religion | ||
| Hindu | 15 | 25 | |
| Christian | 42 | 70 | |
| Muslim | 3 | 5 | |
| Others | 0 | 0 | |
| 5. | Profession | ||
| Medical | 5 | 8.3 | |
| Nursing | 44 | 73.4 | |
| Paramedical | 6 | 10 | |
| Others | 5 | 8.3 | |
| 6. | Type of family | ||
| Nuclear | 46 | 76.7 | |
| Joint | 14 | 23.3 | |
| 7. | Area of residence | ||
| Rural | 47 | 78.3 | |
| Urban | 13 | 21.7 | |
| 8. | Affected with Covid-19 | ||
| Yes | 54 | 90 | |
| No | 6 | 10 | |
| 9. | Vaccination status | ||
| First dose | 2 | 3.3 | |
| Second dose | 30 | 50 | |
| Booster dose | 28 | 46.7 | |
| None | 0 | 0 | |
| 10. | Co-morbid condition | ||
| Yes | 9 | 15 | |
| No | 51 | 85 |
Section B: Level of impact of Covid-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals
Figure 1 shows the percentage distribution of level of impact of Covid-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals. Among 60 samples, 5% of the participants had mild, 48.3% had moderate, and 46.7% had severe impact of Covid-19 pandemic [Table 2].
- Percentage distribution of level of impact of Covid-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals.
| S. No. | Category | Mean | Median | Standard deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Doctors | 83.2 | 91 | 17.45 |
| 2. | Nurses | 86.06 | 86 | 15.51 |
| 3. | Nursing students | 84.5 | 81.5 | 22.21 |
| 4. | Paramedical | 97.3 | 91 | 16.02 |
| 5. | Nursing tutors | 92.8 | 92 | 34.82 |
Section C: Comparison of level of impact of Covid-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals
| Square of variance | df | Sum of squares | Mean of sum of squares | F-ratio | Table value | Significance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Between the groups | 4 | 1067.31 | 266.82 | 0.6255 | 2.61 | Not significant |
| Within the groups | 55 | 23460.87 | 426.56 |
df: Degree of freedom
Section D: Association of impact of Covid-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals with demographic variables
| S. No. | Demographic variables | Level of impact | Chi-square value | Table value | Significance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mild | Moderate | Severe | |||||
| 1. | Age | ||||||
| 16–25 | 3 | 15 | 13 | 8.858 | 12.59 | Not significant | |
| 26–35 | 0 | 4 | 9 | ||||
| 36–45 | 0 | 8 | 5 | ||||
| Above 45 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| 2. | Gender | ||||||
| Male | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1.02 | 9.49 | Not significant | |
| Female | 3 | 25 | 26 | ||||
| Others | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 3. | Marital status | ||||||
| Married | 0 | 14 | 14 | 2.752 | 9.49 | Not significant | |
| Single | 3 | 15 | 14 | ||||
| Others | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 4. | Religion | ||||||
| Hindu | 0 | 7 | 8 | 6.25 | 12.59 | Not significant | |
| Muslim | 0 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Christian | 3 | 20 | 19 | ||||
| Others | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 5. | Profession | ||||||
| Medical | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1.773 | 12.59 | Not significant | |
| Nursing | 3 | 22 | 19 | ||||
| Paramedical | 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Others | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| 6. | Type of family | ||||||
| Nuclear | 3 | 18 | 25 | 6.869 | 5.99 | Significant | |
| Joint | 0 | 11 | 3 | ||||
| 7. | Area of residence | ||||||
| Rural | 2 | 26 | 19 | 4.241 | 5.99 | Not significant | |
| Urban | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||||
| 8. | Affected with Covid-19 | ||||||
| Yes | 2 | 26 | 26 | 2.070 | 5.99 | Not significant | |
| No | 1 | 3 | 2 | ||||
| 9. | Vaccination status | ||||||
| 1st dose | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2.768 | 12.59 | Not significant | |
| 2nd dose | 1 | 12 | 17 | ||||
| Booster dose | 2 | 16 | 10 | ||||
| None | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 10. | Co-morbid condition | ||||||
| Yes | 0 | 6 | 3 | 1.66 | 5.99 | Not significant | |
| No | 3 | 23 | 25 | ||||
DISCUSSION
The study results are discussed based on objectives:
To assess the impact of Covid-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals
To compare the level of impact of Covid-19 pandemic among different healthcare professionals
To find the association of the level of impact of Covid-19 pandemic with selected demographic variables of healthcare professionals
Assess the impact of Covid-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals
The research showed that out of 60 samples, 5% of the healthcare professionals had mild impact of Covid-19, 48.3% had moderate impact of Covid-19, and 46.7% had severe impact of Covid-19.
In the study, “Mental health impact on healthcare workers due to the Covid-19 pandemic” by Biber et al., in China shows that approximately 50% of participants reported more than a minimal level of anxiety, including 22.5% who indicated moderate to severe levels of anxiety.[8]
Compare the level of impact of Covid-19 among different healthcare professionals
In the present study, the calculated F-ratio is 0.6255 and the tabulated value is 2.61 at 0.05 level of significance. The results show that there is no statistical difference in impact of Covid-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals.
In the study, “Psychological impact of healthcare workers in Spain due to Covid-19” by García-Fernández et al., in Spain regarding anxiety symptoms shows (F [1, 1783] = 0.93, P = 0.34), the health care workers (HCW) group (M 18.2, S.D. 10.4) did not show significant higher symptoms of anxiety than non-HCW.[9]
Association of the level of impact of Covid-19 pandemic with selected demographic variables of healthcare professionals
The association between the impact of Covid-19 and type of family is 6.869. So there is a significant association found between the type of family and the impact of Covid-19.
In the study, “A cross-sectional to assess the prevalence of talogen effluvium hair loss in Covid-19 patients and the relationship with disease severity” by Seyfi et al., in China shows a significant association between gender and age. This study included 198 patients who were admitted for Covid-19. The results shows, out of these patients, 79 were male (39.9%) and 119 were female (60.1%). The age ranged from 18 to 85 years old, 48 patients showed hair loss.[10]
CONCLUSION
Covid-19 is an acute respiratory illness in humans caused by coronavirus, capable of producing severe symptoms and in some cases death, especially in older people and in those with underlying health conditions. The main purpose of the present study was to assess the physiological, psychological, social, professional, moral, and spiritual impact of Covid-19 pandemic on healthcare professionals. Our study showed the impact of Covid-19 among healthcare professionals, that is, 5% of healthcare professionals had mild impact, 48.3% healthcare professionals had moderate impact, and 46.7% of healthcare professionals had severe impact of Covid-19 pandemic.
Ethical approval
Institutional Review Board approval is not required.
Declaration of patient consent
The authors certify that they have obtained all appropriate patient consent.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
Use of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted technology for manuscript preparation
The authors confirm that there was no use of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted technology for assisting in the writing or editing of the manuscript and no images were manipulated using AI.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
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