COVID-19: anxiety among hospital staff and associated factors

Figures & data

Table 1. The GAD-7 anxiety scale’s associations with the hospital workers’ background variables.

Background variable	GAD-7 total score
	Mean	SD	p Value
Gender
Female (n = 1,731, 87%)	5.07	4.78	<.001
Male (n = 255, 13%)	3.46	4.43
Occupational group
Physician (n = 121, 6%)	3.04	3.57	<.001
Nursing staff (n = 1,302, 66%)	5.46	4.90
Other (n =565, 28%)	3.90	4.39
Age
18–30 (n = 389, 20%)	6.03	5.16	<.001
31–40 (n = 522, 26%)	5.53	4.85
41–50 (n = 503, 25%)	4.48	4.54
51–55 (n = 277, 11%)	4.12	4.12
56– (n = 351, 18%)	3.65	4.33
Type of hospital
University hospital (n = 1,605, 80%)	5.08	4.83	<.001
Central hospital (n = 390, 20%)	4.05	4.15
Educational level
University (n = 329, 17%)	3.45	3.81	<.001
University of applied sciences (n = 991, 50%)	5.62	5.0
Other (n = 664, 33%)	4.46	4.61
Employment
Regular (n = 1,558, 79%)	4.74	4.65	.022
Temporary (n = 413, 21%)	5.38	5.10
Work experience (years)
0–3 (n = 605, 30%)	5.17	4.95	<.001
4–10 (n = 510, 26%)	5.45	4.97
11–20 (n = 510, 26%)	4.59	4.46
21– (n = 364, 18%)	3.77	4.27
Manager duty
Yes (n = 200, 10%)	3.06	3.52	<.001
No (n =1,778, 90%)	5.08	4.83

Table 2. GAD-7 anxiety scale’s associations with the changes in work and availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background variable	GAD-7 total score
	Mean	SD	p Value
Changes in work
Remote work
Yes (n = 294)	3.39	3.81	<.001
No (n = 1,696)	5.14	4.86
Transferred to a new work unit
Yes (n = 345)	6.82	5.61	<.001
No (n = 1,641)	4.45	4.40
Availability of personal protective equipment (PPE)
Enough available at the moment
Yes (n = 1,377, 70%)	4.72	4.62	<.001
Uncertain (n = 360, 18%)	4.36	4.52
No (n = 235, 12%	6.79	5.52
Enough available enough if pandemic continues
Yes (n = 911, 46%)	3.90	4.19	<.001
Uncertain (n = 672, 34%)	4.99	4.67
No (n = 390, 20%)	7.11	5.41

Table 3. GAD-7 anxiety scale’s associations with interaction between workers, psychological distress and fears during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background variable	GAD-7 total score
	Mean	SD	p Value
Interaction between workers
Cooperation between co-workers was smooth
Yes (n = 1,741, 89%)	4.53	4.47	<.001
Uncertain (n = 79, 4%)	6.77	5.75
No (n = 130, 7%)	8.51	6.06
Team spirit at work was good
Yes (n =1,698, 85%)	4.44	4.46	<.001
Uncertain (n = 110, 6%)	6.03	5.07
No (n = 183, 9%)	8.25	5.68
Cooperation between professions
was smooth
Yes (n =1,624, 82%)	4.50	4.42	<.001
Uncertain (n = 197, 10%)	5.13	5.07
No (n = 156, 8%)	8.57	5.93
Psychological distress
Work-related stress increased
Yes (n = 1,188, 60%)	6.97	4.79	<.001
Uncertain (n = 84, 4%)	2.66	2.08
No (n = 720, 36%)	1.69	2.46
Difficulty concentrating at
work increased
Yes (n = 652, 33%)	8.66	5.11	<.001
Uncertain (n = 180, 9%)	5.22	3.68
No (n = 1,157, 58%)	2.70	3.05
Thinking about work-related matters
outside working hours increased
Yes (n = 1,173, 60%)	6.83	4.86	<.001
Uncertain (n = 65, 3%)	3.81	3.15
No (n = 752, 37%)	1.95	2.83
Workload threatened physical
and psychological health
Yes (n = 537, 27%)	9.60	5.15	<.001
Uncertain (n = 270, 14%)	5.54	3.44
No (n = 1,180, 59%)	2.60	2.85
Fears
Afraid of being transferred to another work unit
Yes (n = 764, 38%)	7.25	5.15	<.001
Uncertain (n = 137, 7%)	4.06	4.49
No (n = 1,091, 55%)	3.30	3.69
Afraid of contracting the coronavirus at work
Yes (n = 719, 36%)	7.29	5.07	<.001
Uncertain (n = 173, 9%)	5.13	4.45
No (n = 1,097, 55%)	3.27	3.84
Afraid of infecting a family member
Yes (n = 1,085, 55%)	6.51	4.94	<.001
Uncertain (n = 108, 5%)	4.25	4.78
No (n = 796, 40%)	2.76	3.50

Table 4. Logistic regression model to predict variables associated with anxiety (GAD-7 ≥ 10)*.

	Anxiety
	OR	[95% CI]	p Value
Age
18–30	1.00		0.012
31–40	0.94	[0.55–1.60]	.83
41–50	0.44	[0.23–0.86]	.016
51–55	0.38	[0.17–0.86]	.021
56–	0.31	[0.13–0.74]	.009
Type of hospital
Central hospital	1.00
University hospital	2.15	[1.18–3.93]	0.012
Cooperation between co-workers was smooth
Yes	1.00		0.002
Uncertain	1.30	[0.57–2.96]	.52
No	3.11	[1.64–5.90]	.001
Difficulty concentrating at work increased
No	1.00		<0.001
Uncertain	1.51	[0.73–3.10]	.52
Yes	3.34	[2.07–5.39]	.001
The physical and psychological workload was health-threatening
No	1.00		<0.001
Uncertain	1.46	[0.75–2.83]	.25
Yes	7.59	[4.48–12.85]	<.001
Afraid of contracting the coronavirus at work
No	1.00		0.002
Uncertain	1.02	[0.49–2.13]	.95
Yes	2.23	[1.34–3.71]	.002

Total number of cases included in the model was 1749. The model Naqelkerke R Square was 51.6%.

*Only statistically significant variables are show in Table 4; in total, the model includes the following variables (Tables 1–3): gender, occupational group, age, type of hospital, education level, employment, work experience, manager duty, remote work, transferred to a new work unit, current and future availability of personal protective equipment, smoothness of cooperation between peers, team spirit, smoothness of the cooperation between different professionals, work-related stress, difficulty concentrating, work-related thoughts outside working hours, increased workload that threatens physical and psychological health, afraid of transfer to a new work unit, afraid to being infected, afraid of transmitting the virus to family members.