Problems of the Medical Staff and Supporting Them in Fighting Against COVID‐19 Epidemic

Aysooda Hooshmand Imanloo; Hossein Sharafi; Fatima Rezaei; Ayda Hooshmand Imanloo; Farzaneh Barkhordari

doi:10.18502/aacc.v7i3.6904

Aysooda Hooshmand Imanloo Student Research Committee, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Hossein Sharafi School of Paramedical Sciences, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Fatima Rezaei School of Paramedical Sciences, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
Ayda Hooshmand Imanloo College of Dentistry, The University of Georgia, Georgia City, USA.
Farzaneh Barkhordari School of Paramedical Sciences, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/aacc.v7i3.6904

Keywords: COVID-19; Medical staff; Anxiety; Depression; Insomnia; Psychosocial problems

Abstract

Background: COVID‐19 has a significant impact on public health and poses a challenge to medical staff, especially to front‐line medical staff who are exposed to and in direct contact with patients. Medical staff were under enormous physical and psychological pressure due to overwork, high risk of infection, and isolation during COVID-19.

Methods: The aim of this study was to review the literature on health problems of medical staff and supporting program for them during COVID-19 pandemic disease. Literature searches were performed on the following databases: Pubmed, Sciencedirect, Scopus, Google Scholar, ProQuest, SID, Iranmedax and Magiran. The types of articles published during the outbreak that were relevant to the subject were searched.

Results: A review of the literature showed that current research focuses on assessing several aspects of COVID-19-induced mental health in medical staff. Stress, anxiety, sleep disorders, depression, burnout, fatigue and physical problems are among the serious issues of the medical staff in the front line of the Corona fight. Various demographic variables such as gender, occupation, long working hours, history of mental illness and psychological variables such as poor social support, self-efficacy were important risk factors.

Conclusion: Regular screening of medical staff involved in the treatment and diagnosis of patients with COVID-19 should be performed to assess physical and psychological problems using multidisciplinary psychiatric teams.