Anxiety among frontline healthcare professionals during the coronavirus pandemic

INTRODUCTION: Anxiety has become a topical issue since the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, especially for frontline healthcare professionals as they deal with patients affected by the Covid-19. OBJECTIVES: Objectify anxiety in frontline medical and paramedical staff and study its associated factors. METHODS: We conducted a national descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study via a survey over a 2-month period from September to October 2020. We used “Beck Anxiety Inventory” to screen anxiety as well as “Brief Cope Scale” to detect probable correlations between anxiety and coping mechanisms. RESULTS: We collected 78 persons. The mean age was 29.86 years. 35.9% moved out of home. 39.7% worked in Covid units. 7.7% had personal psychiatric history. 76.9% provided direct care to patients with Coronavirus. The frontline staff reported that only 29.5% of patients were stables. Only 48.4% received adequate training of protection against Covid-19. 64.1% of professionals did PCR test and only 16.7% of them tested positive. We objectified an increase of 6.4% in the anxiolytics use. Stigma affected 57.7% of professionals. We highlighted a link between anxiety and social support strategy (p=0.048). 92.3 % of the staff suffered from anxiety according to Beck Anxiety Inventory. CONCLUSIONS: Screening anxiety among frontline medical and paramedical staff might enhance their productivty and thus provide patients with the best care. DISCLOSURE: No significant relationships.