ASSOCIATION BETWEEN WORK STRESS AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING AMONG HEALTH CARE WORKERS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Introduction: Work stress and burnout suffered by health care workers (HCWs) have become an international rising issue with various outcomes. Aim of Work: To assess work stress and burnout among HCWs in Menoufia Governorate Hospitals during COVID-19 pandemic, and also to investigate their impact on executive functioning. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 376 HCWs working at Menoufia governorate, Egypt, during the period from the 1st of February to the end of May 2022. The Arabic validated Beverly Potter questionnaire and Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey were used for assessment of work stress and burnout respectively. Wisconsin Card Sorting Test was used to evaluate the executive functioning of participants. Results: Work stress was reported among 42.3% of the studied HCWs. The Mean ±SD of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment was 30.80 ±13.26, 10.09 ±7.65 and 28.52 ±12.81 respectively; which reflected an elevated status of burnout among the studied group. Low personal accomplishment, high emotional exhaustion, and high depersonalization were prevalent in 45.2%, 56.9%, and 44.7% of the studied participants respectively. There was a significant correlation between total score of work stress, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment and total errors in Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (r= 0.761, 0.580, 0.484, -0.520) respectively (p value <0.001). Conclusion and Recommendations: HCWs experienced both work stress and burnout syndrome during COVID-19 pandemic, which in turn affected their executive functioning, so psychological follow up for frontline HCWs, and proactive response to COVID-19 are recommended to decrease work stress and burnout that already suffered during emergent situations