IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0301469.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The COVID-19 pandemic related stress and the associated factors among the healthcare workers in Kota Setar District Health Office, Malaysia

Author

Listed:
  • Mohd Faiz Itam
  • Halimatus Sakdiah Minhat
  • Anita Abd Rahman
  • Mohd Zukri Ibrahim
  • Shareh Azizan Shareh Ali
  • Ahmad Hanis Shuhaimi

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is the most significant worldwide health catastrophe, with massive impacts observed particularly among the healthcare workers. Stress among healthcare workers is a significant and pervasive issue that can have profound implications for both the well-being of healthcare professionals and the quality of patient care. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated factors among the healthcare workers (HCWs). Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted involving 533 HCWs in Kota Setar District Health Office. Related data was collected between January and June 2021. Stress was measured using the Depression Anxiety Depression Scale 21 (DASS-21). Other variables included in this study were sociodemographic and employment factors. The associated factors and predictors were determined by employing chi-square test and multivariate logistic models. Results: COVID-19 related stress was reported at 10.5%. HCWs who work at the district health offices and those with degree or higher qualifications had 2.3 (AOR = 2.310, 95% CI: 1.177–4.535) and 3 (AOR = 2.899, 95% CI: 1.613–5.211) higher odds of experiencing stress compared to those working in the clinics and had lower qualifications (diploma or less). Conclusions: The mental wellbeing of the HCWs participated in this study had been affected negatively by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in one in 10th of the HCWs were experiencing stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, with higher risk observed among those working at the district health office and HCWs with higher qualifications or ranking. This is expected since COVID-19 was a new and unprecedented outbreak associated with massive number of mortalities that requires active contact tracing and surveillance which commonly conducted at district health office level. Active intervention needed to cope with the overwhelming stress and working condition to ensure effective rehabilitation are in place and quality of work were not jeopardized.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohd Faiz Itam & Halimatus Sakdiah Minhat & Anita Abd Rahman & Mohd Zukri Ibrahim & Shareh Azizan Shareh Ali & Ahmad Hanis Shuhaimi, 2024. "The COVID-19 pandemic related stress and the associated factors among the healthcare workers in Kota Setar District Health Office, Malaysia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(5), pages 1-9, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0301469
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301469
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0301469
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0301469&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0301469?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li‐Hsiang Wang & Suzanne Goopy & Chun‐Chih Lin & Alan Barnard & Chin‐Yen Han & Hsueh‐Erh Liu, 2016. "The emergency patient's participation in medical decision‐making," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(17-18), pages 2550-2558, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      More about this item

      Statistics

      Access and download statistics

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0301469. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.