frequency of obsessive-compulsive symptoms related to anxiety in nurses care for covid-19 patients: a cross-sectional study

Background: obsessive-compulsive disorder (ocd) is one of the most prevalent anxiety-related disorders caused by many environmental factors, including anxiety. the covid-19 outbreak has exposed nurses to greater levels of occupational anxiety. objectives: this study aimed to investigate the frequency of obsessive-compulsive (oc) symptoms and the relationship between oc symptoms and anxiety in nurses of covid-19 patients at dr. ganjavian hospital, dezful, iran. methods: this cross-sectional study encompassed 190 nurses working in units for covid-19 patients meeting the inclusion criteria. they were evaluated using a demographic characteristics form, the maudsley obsessional compulsive inventory (moci), and the spielberger state-trait anxiety inventory (stai) (spielberger, 1983). sampling was performed via a stratified random sampling method. the collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (absolute frequency and percentage) and analytical statistics (pearson correlation coefficient and independent t-test) via spss version 21 at a significance level of 0.05. results: the study revealed that 74.4% of the participants showed oc symptoms, 47.4% stated anxiety below moderate, and 61.1% trait anxiety above moderate. the results of the pearson correlation displayed that oc symptoms were significantly associated with state/trait anxiety (p = 0.001). furthermore, the independent t-test indicated that the mean score of oc symptoms was significantly higher in females (p = 0.03) and married subjects (p = 0.006). conclusions: the frequency of oc symptoms was high in nurses working in covid-19 units, especially females and married subjects. there was also a significant relationship between oc symptoms and anxiety, such that anxiety increased with oc symptoms. thus, it is suggested that nursing managers identify anxiety-causing factors in nurses to prevent more severe anxiety disorders.