Assessment of perceived stress during corona (COVID-19) pandemic among health-care workers

Introduction: The pandemic of COVID-19 has caused both physical and psychological suffering not only to the general population but also to health-care workers (HCWs). Assessment of mental stress in HCWs is important as they have played a crucial role during this pandemic. Hence, this study was planned to assess the level of stress in HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: A total of 312 subjects were included by purposive sampling method in this cross-sectional study. A self-designed pro forma was used to collect sociodemographic details of subjects. The Hindi version of the perceived stress scale (PSS)-10 was used to assess stress. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 28. Results: The level of perceived stress was significantly higher in HCWs working in government hospitals and quarantine services. Similarly, paramedical personnel and nursing staff were found to have more median PSS levels (18 and 16, respectively) as compared to doctors and others (15 and 16, respectively), and this observation was also significant in our study (P = 0.007). Although not statistically significant, stress was more among female HCWs, those from nuclear family, younger age group, and those who had been taking treatment for some psychiatric illness. Conclusion: There is a need to assess the ongoing stress among HCWs and address the contributing factors, thus enabling them to perform their duties more effectively and optimally.