Relationship between perceived psychological stress and anxiety caused by COVID-19 in students and healthcare workers

Introduction: During a pandemic, in addition to a serious threat to the physical health of vulnerable people, the fear of disease and fear of death, along with everyday disturbances, causes healthy people to be involved with the anxiety and stress of the disease and suffer psychological disorders. In the meantime, healthcare workers and medical students are groups of people whose mental health status can be endangered by this virus. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the relationship between perceived psychological stress and anxiety caused by COVID-19 in students and healthcare workers working at the Asadabad School of Medical Sciences. Materials & Methods: During a descriptive-analytical study, 113 students and 85 health workers working at Asadabad School of Medical Sciences in 2019 were examined using a stratified sampling method with proportional allocation. The data collection tool included demographic information, Alipur Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (2018), and the 14-item version of Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale (1983). After collecting the data, they were analyzed using SPSS software (version 26). Spearman's correlation test and Mann-Whitney's non-parametric test with an alpha significance level of less than 0.05 were used to check the relationships and compare the data. Results: The overall mean scores of perceived psychological pressure of workers (22.25±9.29) and students (23.90±9.35) were close to the mean level, and the overall mean of COVID-19-induced anxiety in both groups was at a moderate level (workers: 16.36±10.85 and students: 15.24±10.15). Moreover, there was a positive and significant statistical relationship between perceived psychological pressure and COVID-19-induced anxiety in both groups of workers (r=0.55; P0.00) and students (r=0.37: P=0.00). Nonetheless, the comparison of the level of perceived psychological pressure of medical workers and students did not demonstrate a statistically significant difference between the two groups (u=4108.5; P=0.08). This comparison was not significant for the level of COVID-19-induced anxiety caused in the two groups (u=4582.5; P=0.58). Conclusion: The results of the present study pointed out that both groups of medical workers and students experienced almost the same amount of psychological pressure and anxiety. Furthermore, with the increase in participants' level of COVID-19 anxiety, the perceived psychological pressure also increased and vice versa. Therefore, it is recommended that psychiatrists and psychologists be employed in COVID-19 centers, that free psychological counseling be provided to health-treatment workers and students with problems, and that workshops and retraining courses on resilience and problem-solving skills be held.