Prevalence and determinant factors of mental health problems among healthcare professionals during COVID-19 pandemic in southern Ethiopia: multicentre cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress and its determinant factors during COVID-19 pandemic among healthcare professionals in southern Ethiopia. DESIGN: Multi-centre cross-sectional study. SETTING AND STUDY PERIOD: Randomly selected public hospitals in Sidama, southern Ethiopia between 25 September 2020 and 25 October 2020. PARTICIPANTS: 387 healthcare professionals were randomly selected. OUTCOME MEASURES: Prevalence and determinant factors of depression, anxiety and stress was assessed. RESULT: Depression, anxiety and stress prevalence were shown to be 50.1% (95% confidence interval (CI) 45.0% to 55.0%), 55.0% (95% CI 51.1% to 59.9%) and 38.5% (95% CI 33.6% to 43.2%), respectively. Being female (adjusted odd ratio (AOR) 3.71, 95% CI 2.31 to 5.97), married (AOR 2.28, 95% CI 1.34 to 3.86), living alone (AOR 1.87, 95% CI 1.09 to 3.20), nurses (AOR 2.94, 95% CI 1.44 to 5.99) and working in inpatients (AOR 0.53, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.93) were significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Moreover, older age groups (AOR 3.15, 95% CI 1.04 to 6.56), females (AOR 3.25, 95% CI 2.01 to 5.25), married (AOR 1.69, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.87) and nurses (AOR 3.32, 95% CI 1.63 to 6.78) were significantly associated with symptoms of anxiety. Stress symptoms were significantly high among females (AOR 2.47, 95% CI 1.53 to 3.97), married (AOR 2.77, 95% CI 1.60 to 4.78), living alone (AOR 2.01, 95% CI 1.15 to 3.52), nurses (AOR 2.34, 95% CI 1.11 to 4.92) and working in units other than emergency (inpatient (AOR 0.32, 95% CI 0.18 to 0.57) and other units (AOR 0.48, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.95)). CONCLUSION: The current study found that healthcare professionals have high levels of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms. Sex, age, marital status, type of profession, living status and working environment were significant factors for mental health problems in healthcare professionals during the pandemic. Healthcare professionals require mental health support at which monitoring and control can be performed during and after the pandemic.