Anxiety, Distress, and Turnover Intention of Healthcare Workers in Peru by Their Distance to the Epicenter during the COVID-19 Crisis

We conducted a cross-sectional survey to assess the anxiety, distress, and turnover intention (likelihood to leave their current job) of healthcare workers in Peru during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results reported that 21.7% healthcare workers in Peru experienced severe anxiety, whereas 26.1% of them experienced severe mental distress. A higher level of education related with a lower level of anxiety. Younger workers had a higher level of turnover intention than their older colleagues did. Healthcare workers in the private sector had a higher turnover intention than those in the public sector. Most importantly, people who were geographically far from Lima, the epicenter in Peru, during the outbreak experienced less anxiety and mental distress, corroborating the ripple effect and disconfirming the typhoon eye theory. However, the direction of these relationships can change depending on the type of institutions (public versus private) and the type of employees’ contract (full time versus part time). Our research helps provide insights for clinical professionals in identifying the vulnerable groups to mental disorders in Peru. This is the first study to assess anxiety, mental distress, and turnover intention in healthcare workers in Peru during the COVID-19 pandemic.