AUTHOR=El-Gammal Marwa Ahmed , Elgendy Amira , Heidler Petra , Owais Tarek A. , Eltewacy Nael Kamel , Hamza Nouran , the EARG group , Amir Rais Mohammed , Ashraf Reman , kamal abdou Entesar , Sobhy Kiddees Ereen , Abdelrazek Abdellah Arwa , Abd El-Maksoud Mostafa S. M. , MitwallyAwad Aseel , Hanani Ahmad , Yousef Suboh Duha , Elkhader Samaa , Hanayshe Salsabeel , Kiswani Gharam , Ben Ammar Hanen , Hamdi Ghada , Brahmi l Lina , mohamed Ayadi Malek , Zitani Bayan , Karkar Nour , othman Tasneem , Assalyeh Tasnim , Al Sari Batoul , Altweel Baraa , Elzahaf Raga A. , abdulrasoul Hasan Moufiq , Ali Mohammed Almajdoub , Hasan Wisam A , Alkokhiya aldare Hajar , Akwaisah Ayoub , Ahmed Awas Ali , Fateh Mohammed Dares , Al-duais Hareth , Al-subari Kholood Ahmed , Alhalool Badr , Abdelrahim Musbah Ahmed , Abdelrahim Musbah Elhusseini , Salih Eisa Hassan , Altayeb Bakheet Khider , Monje Amir Mohammed Al , Riyadh abdulabbas Ali , Al-Dabagh Jaafar D. , Alnajjar Karrar H. , Hameed Ahmed Mareb , Adil Tawfeeq Daniah , Aloweiwi Wahid , Alkayed Zaid , Sughayer Abdullah , Thaer Albaddawe Aya , Abu-Sirhan Lina A. , AbdAlla Hamad Hind , Omer Ibrahim Omnia , abdulmonem Ahmed Asmaa TITLE=The psychological impact of COVID-19 on healthcare work force in the Middle East region C-S study JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry VOLUME=14 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1112501 DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1112501 ISSN=1664-0640 ABSTRACT=Introduction

COVID-19, is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity in the 21st century (1). The pandemic outbreak as affected all human activities, starting with healthcare and medical service passing with economy and social relationships, as well as political, religious and cultural enactments (2). The healthcare workers were the most affected fighting in the frontline working longer hours under a high risk of being infected (3). This study aims to assess the depression, anxiety and stress levels of the healthcare workforce (physicians, nurses, pharmacists and dentists) in the Middle East and North Africa—MENA–region.

Methods

We invited healthcare workers in the Middle East to participate in our cross-sectional survey by answering to the DASS-21 questionnaire.

Results

A total of 4,845 healthcare workers participated in the study. The participants were from 11 countries as follows: 436 from Egypt, 430 from Algeria, 458 from Iraq, 453 from Jordan, 473 from Libya, 428 from Palestine, 419 from Saudi Arabia, 452 from Sudan, 451 from Syria, 424 from Tunisia, and 421 from Yemen. The doctors among the healthcare workers were 51.7%, 19.0% were from the nursing staff, 16.8% were pharmacists, and 12.5% were from dentists. The depression level among the healthcare workers was as follows: 29.1% were normal, 13.7% were mildly depressed, 26.9% were moderately depressed, 14.4% were suffering from severe depression, and the depression state was extremely severe for the last 15.9%. At the same time, 29.1% were suffering from no anxiety, while 6.9% were at a mild level, 22.3% were at a moderate level, 13.4% were at a severe level, and 28.3% were at an extremely severe level. For the stress levels, 38.6% were normal, 14.9% were suffering from mild stress, 20.3% were moderate, 17.4% were severe, and the stress level was extremely severe for the other 8.9%.

Discussion

This study indicates that in the Middle East and North Africa—MENA—region, the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among the healthcare workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic was 70.9, 70.9, 61.4, respectively.