Coping strategies of Ayush doctors during coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic in an eastern Indian state: A cross-sectional study

Introduction: Healthcare workers were at the forefront of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) battle and experienced professional burnout due to several professional and personal factors. They adopted different coping strategies to deal with stress and burnout. Ayush doctors who served during the pandemic also faced stress and burnout. Objectives: The main objective of this study was to assess the coping strategies of Ayush doctors who faced stress and burnout when serving during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Odisha. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using Google Forms to elicit responses from 56 Ayush doctors using the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS-21). The doctors who were employed under the National Health Mission and Ayush department and who served during the first and second waves were included in the study. Descriptive analysis was performed on the coping behaviors, and statistical analysis was performed using the “R Software” (Version 4.1.2). Results: The mean (±standard deviation [SD]) for the task-oriented coping strategies was 51.14 (±1.86), emotion-oriented coping strategies was 21.71 (±14.36), and avoidance coping strategies was 37.71 (±9.17). The mean (±SD) for non-adoption of the emotion-oriented coping strategies was higher than that for adoption of emotion-oriented coping strategies. On the other hand, the mean (±SD) of the adoption of task-oriented coping strategies and avoidance coping strategies was higher than that of non-adoption of these strategies. The one-way analysis of variance showed that there is a significant difference in adopting coping strategies when it comes to the three types of coping strategies of CISS-21. Conclusions: Ayush doctors witnessed stress and burnout during the pandemic and adhered to different coping strategies to get rid of the stress and burnout.