General Mental Health of Personnel Working in Sanandaj Hospitals after COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Considering the various stressors that have been imposed on the personnel working in hospitals in recent years, this study aimed to determine the general state of mental health and its related factors among hospital personnel in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, Iran.Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was conducted from April 4 to May 5, 2023, on 890 hospital staff through availability sampling, using the demographic questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire-28.To identify factors influencing the mental health problems, logistic regression was used.Data analysis was performed using SPSS v26 software and the minimum significance level for this study was set at 0.05. Results:The mean ( standard deviation) age of the participants was 36.09 10.45 years and the overall prevalence of general health problems was 68.1%.In the multivariable logistic regression models, females were more likely to experience a general mental health compared to men (OR = 1.548, 95% CI: 1.130 -2.121).Additionally, participants who had a positive history of psychiatric disorder (OR = 2.499, 95% CI: 1.372 -4.533), positive history of hospitalization and/or quarantine due to COVID-19 (OR = 1.819, 95% CI: 1.000 -3.310, and OR = 2.191, 95% CI: 1.573 -3.051 respectively), and history of COVID-19 mortality in family or friends (OR = 1.577, 95% CI: 1.118 -2.224) were more likely to develop general mental health problems (P-value 0.05).Conclusions: Our study identified a high level of mental health problems among hospital staff.It is necessary to continuously assess and monitor the psychological status of healthcare workers and hospital staff as well as provide appropriate psychological interventions.