Factors Influencing Anxiety of Health Care Workers in the Radiology Department with High Exposure Risk to COVID-19

BACKGROUND: During the outbreak of COVID-19, health care workers in the radiology department frequently interact with suspected patients and face a higher risk of infection and sudden surges in workload. High anxiety levels seriously harm physical and mental health and affect work efficiency and patient safety. Therefore, it is critical to determine anxiety levels of health care workers and explore its risk factors. MATERIAL/METHODS: Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale were used to evaluate the anxiety and resilience of 364 health care workers with high exposure risk from the radiology departments of 32 public hospitals in Sichuan Province, China. Multivariate linear regression was used to analyze factors related to anxiety. RESULTS: The mean anxiety score was 44.28±8.93 and 23.4% of our study participants reported mild (n=63), moderate (n=19), or severe (n=3) anxiety. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that age, job position, availability of protective materials, signs of suspected symptoms, and susceptibility to emotions and behaviors of people around them were identified as risk factors for anxiety, whereas psychological resilience was identified as a protective factor. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that the anxiety level of health care workers in the radiology department with a high exposure risk to COVID-19 was high in the early stage of the outbreak, although the majority remained within normal limits. Timely assessment and effective intervention measures can improve the mental health of these at-risk populations.