AUTHOR=Fageera Weam , Babtain Fawzi , Alzahrani Ahmad S. , Khrad Hussain M. 

TITLE=Lock-Down Effect on the Mental Health Status of Healthcare Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.683603

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2021.683603

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> The psychological impact that outbreaks and pandemics could inflict on healthcare workers has been widely studied; yet, little is known about the impact of the lockdown measures.</p><p><bold>Objectives:</bold> To assess the magnitude of depression and anxiety among healthcare professionals before and after lifting of the lockdown restrictions in Saudi Arabia.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> Surveys targeting healthcare workers were circulated twice: during the lockdown, and 8 weeks after lifting of lockdown. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed using Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scales.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> A total of 947 healthcare workers, with the mean age of (37 ± 8.9) responded to the surveys. Among these, 23–27% respondents reported clinically significant levels of anxiety and depression. Whereas, easing of the lockdown restrictions was shown to be associated with decreasing mean scores of PHQ-9 and GAD-7. The noted burden fell heavily on female workers, those with a current or a history of psychiatric disorders, suffering from chronic diseases, being in workplaces with high exposure to COVID-19 or in contact with COVID-19 patients, nurses, as well as those who were living with elderly and perceived their physical and mental health as “much worse” compared to the time before the pandemic.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Our findings identified several predictors for anxiety and depression at different time-points of the pandemic. Thus, priority to psychological support measures might be needed for these groups.</p>