Impact of COVID-19 on the Anxiety Perceived by Healthcare Professionals: Differences between Primary Care and Hospital Care

Ana C. Londoño-Ramírez, Sandro García-Pla, Purificación Bernabeu-Juan, Enrique Pérez-Martínez, Jesús Rodríguez-Marín and Carlos J. van-der Hofstadt-Román
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Ana C. Londoño-Ramírez: Servicio de Farmacología Clínica, Hospital General Universitario de Alicante, Departamento de Farmacología, Pediatría y Química Orgánica, Universidad Miguel Hernández, C/Pintor Baeza 12, 03010 Alicante, Spain
Sandro García-Pla: Servicio de Salud Mental, Hospital Vega Baja, Carretera Orihuela-Almoradi s/n, 03314 San Bartolomé, Spain
Purificación Bernabeu-Juan: Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante (ISABIAL), C/Pintor Baeza 12, 03010 Alicante, Spain
Enrique Pérez-Martínez: Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante (ISABIAL), C/Pintor Baeza 12, 03010 Alicante, Spain
Jesús Rodríguez-Marín: Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante (ISABIAL), C/Pintor Baeza 12, 03010 Alicante, Spain
Carlos J. van-der Hofstadt-Román: Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante (ISABIAL), C/Pintor Baeza 12, 03010 Alicante, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 6, 1-11

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has had an emotional impact on healthcare professionals at different levels of care, and it is important to understand the levels of anxiety of hospital personnel (HP) compared to those of primary care personnel (PCP). The objectives herein were to assess the differences in anxiety levels between these populations and to detect factors that may influence them. The anxiety levels (measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale) of the HP and PCP groups were compared using data collected from a cross-sectional study. The secondary variables included demographic and health data, confinement factors, contact with COVID-19 patients, having suffered from COVID-19, perceptions of protection, caregiver overload, threat, and satisfaction with management. We found anxiety “case” (35.6%) and “at-risk” (21%), with statistically significant differences in the group “at risk”, and higher scores in the PCP group. The factors associated with the perception of threat and protection were significant determinants of an increase in anxiety, with all of them showing statistically significant differences. There were greater symptoms of anxiety in the PCP group than the HP group (32% vs. 18%). The factors associated with the prevalence of anxiety symptoms were the perceptions of threat, protection, management, caregiver overload, and perceived degree of threat associated with COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; anxiety; health personnel; primary care; hospital care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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