COMPARISON OF ANXIETY LEVELS AMONG HEALTHCARE WORKERS WITH BECK ANXIETY
INVENTORY DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Abstract
Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the anxiety levels of
healthcare workers (HCWs) in hospitals in Istanbul, which is one of the
cities most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study was
conducted online with 177 HCWs (127 doctors, 31 nurses, 15 paramedics, 4
health technicians) due to the pandemic. Beck Anxiety Invantory (BAI)
was used for anxiety levels. Results: The anxiety levels of HCWs were
found as 48% “minimal”, 23.7% “mild”, 17.5% “moderate”, 10.7%
“severe”. The mean BAI score of other HCWs is from doctors (15.94 ±
12.776 vs 9.53 ± 8.868), the mean BAI score of women is from men (14.07
± 10.899 vs 7.61 ± 8.681), for those who have no children, the mean BAI
score is from those with a child (13.77 ± 11.713 vs 9.66 ± 9.260), and
the mean BAI score of those who were over 65 years old or had a relative
with chronic disease at home was higher than the others (14.11 ± 9.752
vs 10.44 ± 9.752) (p <0.05). The mean BAI score of those who
did not examine COVID-19 patients were higher than the examiners (11.47
± 10.693 vs 1.23 ± 10.394), and the mean BAI score of night shift
workers (12.42 ± 11.063 vs 9.515 ± 9.255) than the others
(p> 0.05). Conclusion: Healthcare workers actively working
during the COVID-19 pandemic have high levels of anxiety. Working
conditions of health workers should be improved and psychosocial support
activities for them should be implemented continuously.