Anxiety and Stress Seem Temporary during the Pneumonia COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey on the Mental Health Status of Healthcare Workers

Objective: to evaluate the presence/severity of depression, anxiety, and stress among health care workers (hcws) who work on the specially allocated covid-19 ward (group a) and hcws on the other wards (group b). methods: this questionnaire-based study was conducted from january 25 to february 28, 2021. the mental status was assessed using the persian version of the 42-item depression, anxiety, and stress score (dass-42). gathered data was analyzed using spss version 25. the independent t-test and chi-square tests were used to compare quantitative and qualitative variables. results: two-hundred and twenty two questionnaires were eligible for analysis. group a consisted of 33 hcws, and 189 (85.1%) individuals were working on the other wards. no statistically significant differences were seen regarding the socio-demographic features except for the marital status (p=0.005). the depressions’ mean score was comparable between group a and b (p=0.102). the mean scores of anxiety and stress were significantly lower in group a than group b (p=0.006), although the frequency of dass-42 parameters did not differ between these two groups (p>0.05). conclusion: contrary to our assumptions, this study showed that the dass-42 parameters were not higher in hcws working on the covid-19 wards. this might be justified by developing coping mechanisms, being on the honeymoon phase of the disaster, compassion satisfaction, promising vaccine news, and working on the less impacted hospital.