Date of Completion

2022

Document Type

Research Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Medicine

Keywords

COVID-19, State and Trait Anxiety, Medical Frontliner, Medical Non-Frontliner, Demographics

Abstract

COVID-19 Pandemic, being unprecedented, has affected the world in all aspects, be it economically, educationally, and even mentally. This pandemic led to several mental health problems, especially among the healthcare workers who provide care and service to sick patients. COVID-19 is a highly contagious pathogenic viral infection that emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and was confirmed that it has affected the Philippines first on June 30, 2020. Healthcare systems were overwhelmed by the unprecedented rise of COVID-19 cases and the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic that brought about different challenges which include lack of protective equipment, increasing workloads, staff and personnel shortage, and lack of compensation and benefits. These systemic and administrative challenges coupled with the personal and mental burdens brought by the pandemic to the healthcare workers prompted this study which aims to determine and compare the severity of anxiety levels among frontline and non-front line healthcare employees of the De La Salle University Medical Center.

To determine the levels of Anxiety among Medical Frontliners and Non-frontliners, the study made use of a descriptive-analytical study that aimed to describe and analyze the State and Trait Anxiety levels of the target population. Demographic profiles of the respondents were also analyzed and taken into consideration as variables that may affect the results.

In the study, 55.1% of the participants were in the 20 - 29 age group, followed by the 30 - 39 age group comprising 37.1% of the responses. The majority of the participants were in the single category with 65.8% of the responses. The respondents were mainly Bachelor's degree holders with 70.3% followed by Doctorate degree holders. Healthcare workers who were employed for 2 to 4 years, and 4 to 6 years comprised 24.7 % of the total responses. Among the Medical frontliners who participated, 73 are in a permanent status while 11 are contractual. Meanwhile, the number of Medical Non-Frontliners who were employed permanently was 59 while 15 people were on a contractual basis. A total of 84 Medical Frontliners and 74 Medical Non-Frontliners participated in the study.

The study further revealed that the two populations of respondents gave no significant difference in the State and Trait Anxiety levels, but it was found that both Medical Frontliners and Medical Non-frontliners are in a state of moderate to severe anxiety. Meanwhile, there is a significant difference between the anxiety levels in relation to the different intervening variables tested.

As to the descriptive perception of common causes of anxieties for both Medical frontliners and Medical Non-frontliners, it was found that the most common concern is that they are anxious about getting infected and transmitting COVID-19 to their family and friends. The respondents are also anxious about witnessing their COVID-19 patients struggle and eventually die in front of them and also seeing their colleagues affected by COVID-19.

The results concluded that the anxiety levels exhibited by the sample population are not merely a product of the pandemic since the high median trait anxiety levels imply that their high anxiety levels may predate that of the pandemic. Still, the high state anxiety levels also concur with the idea that the pandemic is still a significant source of anxiety and worth investigating further. Thus the COVID-19 pandemic is a major factor and contributor to the anxiety levels of both Medical Frontliner and Medical Non-Frontliners.

Download

Share

COinS