effect of online balint group and pharmacotherapy on covid-19 anxiety in iranian healthcare workers: a randomized controlled trial

Background: anxiety persists following coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) and has caused dysfunction. objectives: we compared the effect of the online balint group and pharmacotherapy on covid-19-induced anxiety in iranian healthcare workers (hcws). methods: in the current clinical trial in the north of iran in 2021, the participants were randomly assigned to two groups, including the balint group (eight 60-minute online sessions) and the pharmacotherapy group (sertraline), following a phone screening procedure by a psychiatrist. the groups filled out two questionnaires, namely the connor-davidson resilience scale and corona disease anxiety scale, at baseline and after the intervention (fourth week). results: forty-five hcws were assessed. there was a significant difference in total anxiety score and also in sub-component in each group (p ≤ 0.001). no significant differences were observed regarding the effectiveness of both interventions in anxiety (p = 0.52); however, the pharmacotherapy interventions significantly affected the resilience and related subscales (p ≤ 0.05). the domain of spiritual influences significantly increased in the pharmacotherapy group (p = 0.031). conclusions: balint group and pharmacotherapy can improve covid-19-induced anxiety and boost resilience in hcws.