A cross-sectional online survey of relationship between the psychological impact of coronavirus disease 2019 and the resilience among postgraduate health sciences students from Maharashtra, India

Abstract

Introduction: Because of the rapid global spread, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a state of an emergency situation. Postgraduate (PG) health sciences students (HSSs) are the frontline healthcare workers who are susceptible to psychological issues like depression, anxiety and stress during such stressful pandemic period. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between the psychological issues such as depression, anxiety and stress and the level of resilience among PG HSSs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional online survey was conducted by the department of Psychiatry of tertiary health care center from Maharashtra state of India over a 10 days period (from April 15, 2020 to April 24, 2020), with a sample size of 195 which was calculated by using the formula of sample size calculation for the cross-sectional study design. Data were collected using the purposive sampling method from the PG HSSs. Data were recorded from the study participants in an online structured questionnaire prepared for the study using the sociodemographic details and the two scales namely Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 item (DASS-21) and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). DASS-21 scale was used to assess the presence and severity of depression, anxiety, and stress, while BRS scale was used to assess the level of resilience among the PG HSSs. Data were collected and analyzed using the SPSS software version 15.0, Fisher's exact test, and Pearson's correlation test. Results: Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress were 43.1%, 68.7%, and 11.3%, respectively. There was a high positive correlation between all three subscales of DASS-21 (depression, anxiety, and stress subscales). On BRS, 2 (1.0%) study participants had high resilience, 120 (61.5%) had normal resilience, and 73 (37.5%) Conclusion: Study concluded that significant proportion of PG HSSs had psychological impact of COVID-19 in the form of depression, anxiety and stress. Programs such as timely evaluation of mental health status and stress management to address these psychological issues should be a priority. In long terms, increasing the resilience of PG HSSs can have protective value against the psychological issues during the stressful events of infectious disease outbreaks like COVID-19 pandemic. The following core competencies are addressed in this article: Medical knowledge, Patient care, Professionalism, Practice based learning and improvement.