Working conditions and anxiety status of dietitians during the COVID-19 period

The COVID-19 pandemic affects all societies socially, economically and spiritually. Health workers, who struggle for the full performance and maintenance of health services, are the group most affected by COVID-19. Dietitians, who are health workers, were also affected by this process. This research is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted to investigate working conditions and anxiety status of dietitians working in Turkey during the COVID-19 period. A total number of 516 dietitians voluntarily participated to the study. Data were collected via an online questionnaire. Demographic characteristics, working status, eating habits were questioned by the questionnaire and the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were applied. 32.4% of the participating dietitians were male and 67.6% were female, with a mean age of 29.52 ± 6.77. The workspace of 36.8% of dietitians has changed during the COVID-19 period and 47.3% of these dietitians are working from home, while 34.8% are assigned to filiation team. During the COVID-19 period, the patient interviews were partly face-to-face, partly online, at a rate of 56%. During this period, while 69.1% of the dietitians used nutritional support, the most preferred nutritional supplement has been vitamin D (77.5%). According to the CAS, STAI and PSS scores used in the study; results have shown that while 88.8% of dietitians had high anxiety, 11.0% had high state anxiety, 16.3% had high trait anxiety; 14.1% of them were under stress during the COVID-19 period. When evaluated according to gender, female participants are less anxious and stressed than male participants during this period (p<0.05). As the age and professional seniority of dietitians increased, their stress levels decreased during the COVID-19 period (p<0.05). Stress and state anxiety levels were found to be higher in dietitians whose workspace has changed during the COVID-19 period (p<0.05). During this period, as the number of patients monitored daily by dietitians increased, their stress and anxiety levels have also increased (p<0.05). It has been found that dietitians who had a change in appetite during the pandemic period are more stressed (p<0.05). As a result, working dietitians are feeling anxious during the COVID-19 period and this anxiety is due to a variety of factors. Reducing anxiety and stress; planning of the workload, providing protective personal equipment, psychological and social support are recommended. Key Words: Dietitians, COVID-19, working conditions, anxiety, stress