Document Type : Original Article
Authors
- . Anusha Divvi 1
- . Shivashankar Kengadaran 1
- . Lakshmi Subhashini Katuri 2
- . Ravindranath Jampani 3
- . Jayashri Prabakar 4
- . Kavitha Muthukrishnan 5
- . Sivabalakumaran Kengadaran 6
1 Department of Public Health Dentistry, Indira Gandhi Institute of Dental Sciences, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Puducherry, India
2 Department of Medicine, Gitam Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
3 Department of Machine Learning, Conduira Education, Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
4 Department of Public Health Dentistry, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
5 Department of Pediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Indira Gandhi Institute of Dental Sciences, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Puducherry, India
6 Department of Anaesthesia, Chengalpattu Government Medical College, Chennai, India
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Health‑care workers (HCWs) are highly vulnerable to depression during an
epidemic outbreak. Protecting the mental well‑being of HCWs is a priority while battling with
COVID‑19. However, documentation on COVID‑19‑related depression among HCWs is scarce
due to the limited availability of measuring scales. Hence, this study was purposed to develop
a scale to measure depression relating to COVID-19 and evaluate its psychometric properties
among HCWs.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A validation study was carried out among 320 HCWs including
physicians of various medical specialties, dental specialists, and nurses in the year 2020. Exploratory
factor analysis using Promax rotation with Kaiser normalization for the determination of factor structure
was employed in data analysis using SPSS version 16 software.
RESULTS: COVID-19 Depression Scale for HCWs (CDS‑HW) demonstrated a two-component
structure identified as “work‑related anxiety” and “psychological distress.” The mean CDS‑HW score
of the study participants was observed to be 23.67 ± 2.82, and the scale demonstrated good internal
consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha: 0.741).
CONCLUSION: CDS‑HW is a rapidly administrable, valid, and reliable tool that can be used to
measure COVID-19-related depression among HCWs.
Keywords
prevalence and influencing factors in anxiety in medical workers
fighting COVID‑19 in China: A cross‑sectional survey. Epidemiol
Infect 2020;148:e98.
2. WHO. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID‑19) Weekly
Epidemiological and Operational updates October; 2020.
Available from: https://www.who.int/docs/default‑source/
coronaviruse/situation‑reports/20201012‑weekly‑epi‑update‑9.
pdf. [Last accessed on 2020Oct 16].
3. Ndanguza D, Tchuenche JM, Haario H. Statistical data analysis
of the 1995 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Afr Mat 2013;24:55‑68.
4. WHO. Mental Health and Psychosocial Considerations
during the COVID‑19 Outbreak; 2020. Available from:
https://www.who.int/docs/default‑source/coronaviruse/
mental‑health‑considerations.pdf. [Last accessed on 2020 Oct 16].
5. Chew NW, Lee GK, Tan BY, Jing M, Goh Y, Ngiam NJ, et al.
A multinational, multicentre study on the psychological outcomes
and associated physical symptoms amongst healthcare workers
during COVID‑19 outbreak. Brain Behav Immun 2020;88:559‑65.
6. Ji D, Ji YJ, Duan XZ, Li WG, Sun ZQ, Song XA, et al. Prevalence of
psychological symptoms among Ebola survivors and healthcare
workers during the 2014‑2015 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone:
A cross‑sectional study. Oncotarget 2017;8:12784‑91.
7. Abolfotouh MA, AlQarni AA, Al‑Ghamdi SM, Salam M,
Al‑Assiri MH, Balkhy HH. An assessment of the level of concern
among hospital‑based health‑care workers regarding MERS
outbreaks in Saudi Arabia. BMC Infect Dis 2017;17:4.
8. Lee EJ, Kim JB, Shin IH, Lim KH, Lee SH, Cho GA, et al. Current
use of depression rating scales in mental health setting. Psychiatry
Investig 2010;7:170‑6.
9. Comrey AL, Lee H. A First Cours in Factor Analysis. Hillsdale,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc; 1992.
10. Cristobal E, Flavian C, Guinaliu M. Perceived e-service
quality (PeSQ). Managing service quality. Int J 2007;17:317‑40.
11. Nikčević AV, Spada MM. The COVID‑19 anxiety syndrome
scale: Development and psychometric properties. Psychiatry Res
2020;292:113322,1‑9.
12. Meena SP, Jhirwal M, Puranik AK, Sharma N, Rodha MS,
Lodha M, et al. Awareness and experience of health‑care workers
during coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. J Edu Health Promot
2021;10:110.
13. Silva WA, de Sampaio Brito TR, Pereira CR. COVID‑19 anxiety
scale (CAS): Development and psychometric properties. Curr
Psychol 2020;Nov: 1‑10.
14. Briggs SR, Cheek JM. The role of factor analysis in the development
and evaluation of personality scales. J Pers 1986;54:106-48.
15. Singh KK, Jyotirmay J, Kumar A, Goel A, Gulati S, Nayak BB.
Prevalence of anxiety, stress, and depression among health care
and nonhealth‑care professionals in India. J Edu Health Promot
2021;10:83.
)