Prevalence of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress along with Coping Strategy and Work-related Sense of Coherence in Anesthesia Care Providers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Numerous studies have reported the prevalence of psychological issues in anesthesia professionals during stressful situations like the COVID-19 pandemic; however, there are limited data exploring the coping strategies and work satisfaction in this workforce during the pandemic. In this observational cross-sectional study, three validated questionnaires, namely, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 21, the Brief-Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced inventory, and the Work-related Sense of Coherence (Work-SoC) scale, were handed out to 150 anesthesia health-care providers (doctors and allied health staff [AHS]). The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress; Work-SoC conditions; and coping strategies were compared between groups of participants based on age (<30 years vs. ≥30 years), gender (males vs. females), and occupation (doctors vs. AHS). Participants aged <30 years reported more depression (P = 0.0134) and stress (P = 0.0453) compared to participants aged ≥30 years. Younger participants used emotion-focused and avoidant coping styles, whereas older participants used coping styles that were emotion focused and problem focused. Similarly, a problem-focused coping style was observed frequently among both doctors and AHS. Work-SoC assessment showed that younger participants (P = 0.0088) and more AHS respondents (P = 0.000) attributed poor meaningfulness, but doctors reported poor comprehensibility (P = 0.058) to their working conditions. Younger professionals were more susceptible to stress and depression during the pandemic. Similar to AHS, they perceived work conditions as unrewarding and less meaningful. Doctors perceived working conditions as unmanageable, unpredictable, and unstructured. There were age-related differences in coping strategies where older adults engaged in more proactive coping.