Mental status of MCBU medical faculty anesthesia and intensive care unit staff during COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: To study the mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care workers, who directly treat patients at intensive care unit or have responsibility at operating theatre as an anesthesia team member, during coronavirus second wave. Methods: 150 participants were included in the study after being informed and written consents were obtained. The study was completed between 01.09.2021 - 30.09.2021 and all of the participants were given "voluntary consent form", "socio-demographic and clinical information form", Beck Anxiety Scale, Beck Depression Scale (or Beck Depression Inventory), Maslach Burnout Scale and EYSENCK Personality Questionnaire forms. Pandemic isolation rules were strictly kept in mind and face-to-face interviews with the participants were avoided so; the questionnaire forms were hand-delivered to the participants and hand them back, then evaluated. For count data, percentage distribution, mean, standard deviation were used. T test (in independent groups), one-way analysis of variance (Mann Whitney U test if normal distribution was not present), Kruskal Wallis test, Pearson correlation test (Spearman Correlation test if normal distribution was not present) and Chi-Square test were used in statistical analysis and P- value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Thirty-six doctors, 79 nurses and 35 healthcare workers enrolled in the present study including 47 male and aged between 20-50. Seventy eight of the participants were single and 129 participants were high school/university graduated. 43 participants stated that their incomes were less than their expenses where, 87's income were equivalent and 20's were more than their expenses. Forty six of the participants live alone. Thirty participants live with one of the family members, 51 live with their elementary family, 4 live in a large family and 19 live with their friends/partners. Of those with harmful habits, 62 smoke, 5 drink alcohol, and 23 smoke and drink alcohol. Eight participants received psychiatric treatment, and other 10 had relatives having psychiatric disorders. Only 8 participants have medical problems and 6 of them are under confirmed medication. During the pandemic, 131 of the participants tested for COVID 19 and 55 of them were diagnosed positive where 102 had COVID symptoms surprisingly. In the present study, 138 of the participants had night shifts and 88 of them performed aerosol treatment directly to COVİD patients. Statistically significant results of the present study; The rate of emotional exhaustion in the doctors was significantly higher than the nurses and other health personnel. The rate of desensitization in male participants was significantly higher. The desensitization rate of participants who used cigarettes and alcohol was higher than smokers or alcohol consumers. The rate of desensitization of participants with seniority in the profession of less than 1 year was higher than others. In those with insufficient use of personal protective equipment (PPE), "personal success" was high. Anxiety detected significantly more in single participants. The rate of severe anxiety was high in participants who consumed alcohol. The rate of severe anxiety was high in junior health care workers (experience less than 1 year) The neuroticism score of those under any medication, was low. The psychoticism score was high in those whose income was less than their expense. The reliability rate of the personality scale of nurses was lower than that of doctors. The reliability rate of the personality scale was high in health workers who performed aerosol treatment. Participants who did not smoke and consumed no alcohol, did not prefer COVID testing when compared with smokers and alcohol consumers and they had less COVID symptoms; on the other hand, senior staff were found to have a lower rate of COVID testing than others. The COVID PCR positivity rate was low in doctors and nurses. Conclusion: COVID-19 Pandemic deeply affected the mental health of health care workers who are on the front lines of the fight, against the disease. The participants of the present study had critical responsibility in handling and treating suspicious or proven COVİD 19 patients and the results obtained by this study stated risks of mental problems among the participants. Expectation from this Anesthesiology and Reanimation Proficiency Thesis is to get attention on health care workers mental status that overwhelmed by extraordinary workload in COVID19 pandemic and hope to make contributions on creating protocols and building regulations for the benefit of the health system and health care workers in our country. Keywords: COVID-19, mental status changes, health care workers