Anxiety among doctors during COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary care center in India

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 has a severe impact on the health-care system worldwide bringing doctors under immense pressure to work under stressful conditions. The main objective of this study was to assess anxiety among doctors and to understand the perceived causes of anxiety. METHODOLOGY: Questionnaires were made available to all willing doctors of SN Medical College, Agra; King George's Medical University, Lucknow, and GSVM Medical College, Kanpur, between May 12, 2020, and June 20, 2020 (during nationwide lockdown). The questionnaire consists of three main sections: details about respondents’ working status, questions regarding respondents’ reasons for concern, and Becks’ Anxiety Inventory (BAI) scale. RESULTS: Two hundred and fifty responses were received from about 599 doctors presented with the questionnaire. About 32% of the respondents have already done duties in COVID facilities and the rest are awaiting deployment at those facilities. Forty-two percent reported concern regarding transmitting the illness to close ones/loved ones/family members to be a cause of anxiety and 40% were worried about the quality of protective gear closely followed by examination-related worries. About 28.8% of the respondents scored >7 on BAI with 62.5% of these (18% of total respondents) reporting “moderate” levels of anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings underline the fact that pandemics such as COVID-19 cause significant levels of anxiety among doctors. The levels of anxiety differed for age, sex, and specialty. The perceived causes were the risk of transmitting to loved ones and concerns regarding protective gear. These outcomes highlight the need for early interventions to address anxiety and to provide support for doctors during such crises.