Burden of Mental Morbidities among Health Care Workers in a Tertiary Care Hospital Of West Bengal during Third Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract Introduction: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are constantly on the frontlines, facing the brunt of the COVID 19 pandemic in their personal, professional, and social lives. This pandemic has also taken a toll on the lives of healthcare workers over the past two years. Facing the stress and burnout since the pandemic has begun, during the third wave of the pandemic, there might be an increase in mental health issues among HCWs in this state. The aim of the study is to assess the magnitude of anxiety and depression during the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic among the healthcare workers in a tertiary care hospital in West Bengal. Materials and methods: The observational study was conducted at IPGMER & SSKM Hospital, a tertiary care teaching hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal, over a period of one week from January 19 to January 26, 2022. A cross-sectional rapid survey was conducted using an online questionnaire containing the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) among HCWs in the hospital using a Google Proforma through various social media groups. A total of 86 HCWs participated over a period of one week. The data was analysed using SPSS 16 software. Descriptive statistics and univariate logistic regression were used. Result: In the present study, it was found that among 86 people, 61 of them were aged between 26-40 years, half of them, i.e., 45 people, were male, and more than one-fifth (22.1%) (n = 86) had moderate to severe anxiety. Most of the participants, i.e., 39 of them (45.3%), had clinical depression ranging from borderline to extreme. No significant association of moderate to severe anxiety and depression and socio-demographic characteristics was noticed, except for the significantly higher preponderance of anxiety in female gender (p value= 0.0001). Anxiety showed a good positive correlation with depression (p value less than 0.001) and all who had severe anxiety were also suffering from either severe or extreme depression. Conclusion: An alarming proportion of anxiety and depression was noticed among HCWs. The prevalence of anxiety and depression (severe grade) among HCWs are 6% and 8% respectively. So awareness regarding their own mental health, preventive therapies, and proper diagnosis and treatment of cases are needed.