Stress, Depression, and Coping Strategies among Medical Staff Working in the 10th Public Health Region during the COVID-19 Pandemic
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic increased the workload and risk of infections for healthcare workers, potentially resulting in stress and depression. This study aims to identify the stress-relief factors and coping strategies used to guide mental health support.
OBJECTIVES: To examine stress, depression, stress-relief factors, and coping strategies among healthcare workers in Thailand's Health Region 10 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
METHODS: An analytic cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 434 healthcare workers responsible for COVID-19 patients between January and March 2022. Data were collected via online questionnaires covering personal information, stress and depression assessments, stress-relief factors and coping strategies. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, Chi-square, Fisher's exact test, t-test, and Spearman's correlation coefficient with a significance level of 0.05.
RESULTS: Among participants (88% female, 61.5% nurses), 73% reported moderate stress levels while 18.4% experienced depression. The nursing profession exhibited the highest level of stress (12.4%). It was found that gender and age were significantly different between the depressed group and the non-depressed group (p=0.04). Stress-relief factors significantly associated with reduced depression included coworker support, family safety, improvement in infected patients, effective protective equipment and measures, proper infection prevention guidelines, teamwork, confidence in the hospital's capabilities, and sufficient vaccine availability. Effective coping strategies involve adhering to preventive measures, being cautious with patients despite negative test results, acquiring knowledge about the disease, using private transportation, engaging in relaxing activities, communicating with family and friends, maintaining a positive mindset, limiting exposure to stress-inducing news, expressing emotions appropriately, and exercising or playing sports.
CONCLUSIONS: Medical staff experienced increased mental health issues during the pandemic. Appropriate stress-relief factors and coping strategies can effectively reduce depression. Therefore, promoting the use of these factors and developing a mental health care system is crucial to protecting and supporting the mental well-being of healthcare workers during pandemics and crises in the future.
Thaiclinicaltrials.org number, TCTR20250118004
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