Depression, anxiety and stress after COVID-19 vaccination: A retrospective cross-sectional study among health care providers

BACKGROUND: Corona virus disease (COVID-19) is a health concern that produced considerable psychological and physical health challenges to Health care providers (HCPs) internationally. AIMS: This study aims to determine the level of depression, anxiety, and stress after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine among HCPs in Iraq. METHODS: A retrospective cross-sectional study design was used in this study. The participants involved were 700 Iraqi HCPs who received one or two doses from COVID-19 vaccines. The questionnaire was designed and brought to them electronically using Google form and distributed by social media. Then mental health status was measured using a specific depression, anxiety and stress scale named DASS-21. Each domain of the DASS scale was calculated for each subject and DASS-21 scores were compared between different demographic groups. RESULTS: Females represented a large percentage of participants (80%). The majority of participants had a normal level of DASS-21 after receiving the vaccine. Higher scores were obtained among graduated young age groups also among individuals who have side effects associated with the vaccine. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that assesses mental health after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in the middle east. The study concluded that HCPs have low DASS-21 scores and this gives us promising results for the use of the COVID-19 vaccine in future.