Evaluation of Anxiety during Coronavirus Pandemic Among Healthcare Workers in Babol in 2020: A Short Report

The emerging coronavirus, which there was no information on the way of its disease-causing at the beginning of the outbreak, caused anxiety among health care workers who were at the forefront of the fight against coronavirus. This study aimed to evaluate anxiety during coronavirus pandemic among healthcare workers in Babol.

The present descriptive study was conducted in 2020 among 260 healthcare workers of Babol health centers selected by stratified random method. Data were collected using a questionnaire to measure individual and occupational characteristics and to determine the Corona Disease Anxiety Scale. Descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used to analyze the data.

The mean and standard deviation scores of the total anxiety scale, psychological symptoms of anxiety, and physical symptoms of anxiety among healthcare workers in Babol were 12.13±8.02, 9.86±5.35, and 3.69±2.27, respectively. No or mild anxiety was observed among 195 people (75%) of healthcare workers, and 65 people (25%) had moderate to high anxiety. A chi-square test showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between sex and psychological symptoms of anxiety (p=0.016), sex and total anxiety (p=0.010) and the rate of anxiety was higher in women.

The results showed that the level of anxiety in the healthcare workers of Babol who were at risk of exposure to coronavirus was low that indicates the optimal mental and physical condition of individuals in the face of critical situations.