Health Anxiety and Its Correlations with Self-Perceived Risk and Attitude on COVID-19 among Malaysian Healthcare Workers during the Pandemic

Hajar Mohd Salleh Sahimi, Nazirah Azman, Nik Ruzyanei Nik Jaafar, Tuti Iryani Mohd Daud, Azlin Baharudin, Ahmad Khaldun Ismail, Akramul Zikri Abdul Malek, Mohd Rohaizat Hassan and Azmawati Mohammed Nawi
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Hajar Mohd Salleh Sahimi: Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
Nazirah Azman: Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
Nik Ruzyanei Nik Jaafar: Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
Tuti Iryani Mohd Daud: Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
Azlin Baharudin: Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
Ahmad Khaldun Ismail: Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
Akramul Zikri Abdul Malek: Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 50586, Malaysia
Mohd Rohaizat Hassan: Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
Azmawati Mohammed Nawi: Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: Healthcare workers (HCW) are exposed to health-related anxiety in times of pandemic as they are considered to have a high risk of being infected whilst being the vital workforce to manage the outbreak. This study determined the factors that influence health anxiety and its extent in correlations with perceived risk, knowledge, attitude, and practice of HCW. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted on a total of 709 HCW from both public and private healthcare facilities who completed a set of questionnaires on sociodemographic data, knowledge, attitude, and practice of HCW on COVID-19, and health anxiety traits assessed using the short version Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI). Multiple linear regression (adjusted R 2 = 0.06) revealed respondents with higher perceived risk for COVID-19 significantly predicted higher HAI scores (beta 1.281, p < 0.001, 95%, CI: 0.64, 1.92), and those with a higher cautious attitude towards COVID-19 significantly predicted higher HAI scores (beta 0.686, p < 0.001, 95%CI: 0.35, 1.02). Healthcare workers’ perceived risk and cautious attitude towards COVID-19 might be potentially influenced by management of the sources and approaches to the dissemination of information of the pandemic. The implementation of certain measures that minimize the infection risk and its related anxiety is important to preserve both their physical and psychological wellbeing.

Keywords: front liners; COVID 19; health attitude; health risk perception (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 (4)

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