The evaluation of knowledge, attitudes, depression and anxiety levels among emergency physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background: The outbreak of COVID-19 has put enormous physical and psychological pressure on emergency physicians. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the levels of anxiety, depression, and related factors in this group during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: After obtaining ethics committee approval, we gathered the data for this descriptive study using an online questionnaire from March 14–20, 2020, from 290 emergency physicians in health care settings in Turkey. Results: The 290 emergency physicians who participated in the study had a high level of knowledge about COVID-19. According to their Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) scores, depression was detected in 108 participants (62%) while anxiety was detected in 103 participants (35.5%), with the median depression and anxiety scores found to be 8 (0–21) and 7 (0–21), respectively. As to the requirement of a 14-day quarantine for an emergency physician performing an intubation, a statistically significant difference was found among job titles (p = 0.039). Conclusion: This study emphasizes the importance of recognizing psychological trauma caused by providing care during the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessity of providing psychological support for the protection of emergency physicians’ mental health.