key: cord-0990120-ghbtnfcz
authors: Sil, Abheek; Das, Anupam; Jaiswal, Saurabh; Jafferany, Mohammad; Thole, Akhilesh; Rajeev, Rahul; Ali, Syed Naiyer
title: Mental health assessment of frontline COVID‐19 dermatologists: A Pan‐Indian multicentric cross‐sectional study
date: 2020-07-06
journal: Dermatol Ther
DOI: 10.1111/dth.13884
sha: 57958ac044fd73411d9401b8a96e2947169342ca
doc_id: 990120
cord_uid: ghbtnfcz

nan

residents, young faculties, and consultants are not used to handling long hours of duty and stressful environment. 2 We evaluated the mental health status of front-line dermatologists combating the pandemic.

This was a cross-sectional, observational study. Dermatologists engaged in direct patient contact through clinical services at outpatient department, designated COVID wards, and fever clinics were included. Those involved in administrative duties and other departmental engagements were excluded. An online semistructured questionnaire was prepared on Google-forms platform and the link was Table 1 .

Eleven (26.82%) doctors were depressed, among which six (54.4%) participants were suffering from mild depression. Moderate, moderately severe, and severe depression were encountered in two (18.2%), two (18.2%), and one (9.1%) informants, respectively. Mean depression score was found to be 5.24 ± 3.02. Among the participants with moderate to severe depression, significant association (P < .05) was found with females (P = .02), age >30 years (P = .03), and those staying away from family (P = .03). Out of the total 41 study participants, stress was depicted in 12 (29.2%) doctors, of which stress levels were moderate in 11 (91.7%) and severe in 1 (8.3%) of participants. Mean perceived stress score was found to be 16.38 ± 7.93.

Higher perceived stress scores were seen in females, long working hours, working in COVID-positive wards, and participants staying away from family; however, these were not found to be statistically significant.

Our results revealed a 26.82% and 29.2% prevalence of symptoms of depression and stress, respectively, among frontline COVID-19 dermatologists. A multicenter survey involving 1563 Chinese medical staff revealed depression in 50.7% and 73.4% developed stress related symptoms respectively. 3 Results of a recently published study from Wuhan suggested half of the 1257 health workers reporting symptoms of depression. 4 In an Indian study involving 152 doctors, 34.9% were found to be depressed and 32.9% were experiencing stress. 5 Another recent Indian study concluded that dermatologists too developed high stress, with significant association with females and unmarried individuals, due to the current situation Out-patient department (13) 3 3

Fever clinic (23) 7 5

Designated COVID wards (5) 1 4

Currently staying P = .03* P = .776

With family (19) 1 5 (during home-quarantine and COVID-19 pandemic), that was found to be comparable to non-dermatologists. 6 Our study, in contrast, was restricted to "front-line" dermatologists only.

Akin to our findings, Lai et al showed that being a woman and   possessing an intermediate professional title was associated with higher anxiety, depression, and distress. 4 Liang et al 7 reported that medical staff at younger age (<30 years) had higher self-rated depression scores (statistically insignificant) than those with older age (≥30 years). Older staff can suffer from increased stress and depressive symptoms due to exhaustion from prolonged work hours, concerns for their families, and personal safety. 8, 9 Being a web-based survey, the receipt of unsolicited responses 

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