Predicting the severity of COVID-19 anxiety based on sleep quality and mental health in healthcare workers

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education Sciences and Psychology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Physiology and Medical Physics, School of Medicine, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

3 Neuroscience Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background: One of the social groups whose psychological assessment is important during the COVID-19 outbreak is healthcare workers.
Objective: This study aimed to predict the severity of COVID-19 anxiety in healthcare workers based on sleep quality and mental health.
Methods: This correlational study was conducted on 180 healthcare workers (129 females and 51 males). Participants completed the researcher-created demographic information questionnaire, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale (CDAS).
Results: The results showed that 23.3% of healthcare workers reported COVID-19 anxiety. The severity of COVID-19 anxiety varied among different work shifts and educational degrees of healthcare workers, with those on morning shifts and those with master's degrees showing low levels of COVID-19 anxiety. Additionally, there was a significant relationship between COVID-19 anxiety and mental health. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between all dimensions of sleep quality except sleep efficiency and COVID-19 anxiety (P<0.05). Finally, the results of logistic regression analysis showed that low sleep quality in individuals increased the chance of emerging intense anxiety due to COVID-19 by 3.11 times (OR=3.11).
Conclusion: These results showed that the most important contributing factor to COVID-19 anxiety in healthcare workers is the sleep quality of individuals. Therefore, providing screening and interventional programs is needed to improve the sleep quality of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords


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