A longitudinal cohort study on assessing the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of cancer care providers: Developing world scenario

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 is one of the most unfortunate events seen in the 21st century. Cancer care providers (CCPs) are under immense mental burden due to the unpredictable pandemic and compromised cancer care among patients. The pandemic has taken a toll on caregivers, be it physically, mentally, or psychosocially. Hence, a longitudinal study was planned to evaluate the temporal changes and the impact of COVID-19 on CCPs. Subjects and Methods: A prospective longitudinal study was conducted from May 2020 to October 2020 to assess the pandemic's impact on mental health among CCPs. Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 and PCL5 instruments were used to identify the temporal change with pandemic evolution. An online survey was administered at 6-week intervals through e-mail. Quantitative data were presented as mean with standard deviation, and an independent t-test was used to compare the mean score between the three surveys. Categorical variables were presented in percentages, and the Chi-squared test was used to analyze the differences in categorical variables between different surveys. Results: The questionnaire was e-mailed to 240 CCP's; 115 responses were valid. The mean age is 29.9 ± 5.86, 62.6% were male and 27.4% were female, 41.7% were nursing staff, and 58.3% were doctors. Sixty-seven percentage had <5 years of medical experience. Respondents who stayed with family had significant depression levels in the first and third surveys (odds ratio [OR]: 0.37, confidence interval [CI]-0.15–0.91, P = 0.03) and (OR: 0.17, CI-0.026–1.1, P = 0.04). Stress levels were significantly high in the caregivers staying with family in the first survey (OR: 4.38, CI: 1.2–15.7, P = 0.02). On analyzing three surveys, 55 respondents in both the first and second survey and 21, 8, and 17 respondents persisted in having depression, stress, and anxiety. Conclusions: Pandemic has severely affected the mental well-being of CCPs, with more than one-third of them suffering from depression, anxiety, and stress. In any disaster or an unnatural event, time helps the human mind acclimate to new conditions; it is similar to our initial results that show improvement in depression, stress, and anxiety levels with the second survey. It is crucial to assess and address mental health-related problems to ensure health-care workers well-being and deliver quality health care to the patients.