The analysis of emergency medicine professionals' occupational anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objectives: People worldwide have experienced anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic including healthcare professionals. News about the number of deaths and cases shared on social media has also increased the anxiety. Anxiety is described as an emotional state in which a feeling of weakness is experienced during preparation for perceived risk; it also includes fear. In our study, the occupational anxiety levels of emergency medicine professionals were compared based on various variables (institution, years of experience, number of daily emergency patient cases in the institution, etc.).

Methods: The study was conducted with 168 emergency medical professionals from 5 different countries. The COVID-19 outbreak was ongoing while data was being collected, and the study was approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee provided that the data were collected online. Research data were obtained in June, July, and August 2020. One of the two sub-factors in the scale is physical, physical, and life anxiety factor. There are 12 items in this sub-factor: The lowest possible score is 12, and the highest score is 60. The other sub-factors are the work environment, employees, equipment, and environmental factors.

Results: Accessibility to personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic caused a difference in bodily, physical, and vital anxiety levels (P < 0.05). Gender, chronic disease before COVID-19 status, marital status, years of experience, overtime work during the COVID-19 pandemic, and SARS-COV-2 contagion status during the treatment process did not cause any difference in bodily, physical, and vital anxiety levels (P > 0.05). The place of work caused a significant difference in the level of bodily, physical, and vital anxiety (P < 0.05). Years of experience in the profession caused a significant difference in the level of anxiety regarding work atmosphere, employee, PPE, and environmental factors (P < 0.05). During the COVID-19 pandemic, overtime work during the COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant difference in the level of anxiety related to work atmosphere, employee, equipment, and environmental factors (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergency service working hours caused a significant difference in the anxiety levels related to work atmosphere, employees, equipment, and environmental factors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, access to personal protective equipment caused a difference in anxiety levels. As a result, the anxiety level of the emergency medicine professionals who are in the front line in the hospitals should be treated, and they should be provided psychological and behavioural support.

Emergency medicine; Occupational anxiety; COVID-19

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