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Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of health care workers in CYPRUS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

A. Chatzittofis ,
M. Karanikola ,
K. Michailidou  and
A. Constantinidou
A. Chatzittofis*
Affiliation:
Medical School, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
M. Karanikola
Affiliation:
Department Of Nursing, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus
K. Michailidou
Affiliation:
Biostatistics Unit, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology & Genetics, Nicosia, Cyprus
A. Constantinidou
Affiliation:
Medical School, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a great impact on health care workers (HCWs) who are exposed to high levels of stress and trauma leading to negative mental health outcomes, including stress-related symptoms and depressive symptoms.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depressive symptoms, anxiety and post traumatic stress symptoms related to to the COVID 19 pandemic in Cyprus.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, we report on mental health outcomes among HCWs in Cyprus. Data were collected between May 3rd and May 27th, 2020, using an online questionnaire that included demographics, the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), assessing depressive symptoms, the Impact of Events Scale Revised (IES-R) measuring PTSD symptoms and the 10 item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) measuring stress.

Results

424 Health Care Workers (HCWs) participated in the study. 79 HCWs (18,6%) scored in PHQ-9 above the cut-off for depression while 62 HCWs (14,6%) scored high enough in IES-R indicating a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. The prevalence of depression and PTSD symptoms were significantly higher among nurses compared to doctors and other HCWs. (20.7% versus 10.8%; adjusted prevalence ratio, 1.70 [95% CI, 1.06 to 2.73]), after adjustment for age and sex.

Conclusions

Even in countries like Cyprus with minimum impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact on the mental health of HCWs is substantial with nurses being more vulnerable.

Keywords

ptsdhealth care workerscovid 19Depression
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S276 - S277
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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