The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived stress in clinical practice: experience of doctors in Iraqi Kurdistan

Abstract

Introduction. The healthcare workers are at high risk of developing stress-related problems during outbreaks. This study aimed to explore the perceived stress and its relation to the duration of dealing with COVID-19 patients in medical doctors.Methods. The doctors who work in different medical settings in Iraqi Kurdistan during coronavirus outbreak were invited into this cross-sectional study. The doctors were invited from one pediatric, one emergency, one special corona, and one maternity and gynecology hospital. The "Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS)" measured the perceived degree of a doctor who experienced stress. The information was collected through a web-based technique to avoid the disease spread.Results. Doctors' mean duration of dealing with suspected/confirmed cases of COVID-19 was 1.2 (Range: 0-16 days). The mean stress score was 18.81 out of 40. Most of the doctors had a moderate level of stress (69.4%), followed by a low (21.1%) and a high level of stress (9.6%). The general physicians and medical lab specialties had higher stress scores; 21.56 and 19.88, respectively. The high level of stress was among general physicians and community and family medicine doctors; 20.0% and 25.0%, respectively. Whether or not doctors dealt with suspected/confirmed cases of COVID-19, did not have a significant difference over the perceived stress score; 19.02 vs. 18.87; P = 0.786). The mean score of stress was raised with increasing duration of dealing with suspected/confirmed cases of COVID-19; r = 0.202; P = 0.004 and decreased with increasing age (r = -0.141; P = 0.045), and clinical experience (r = -0.139, P = 0.048).Conclusion. This study showed that medical doctors are at a moderate level of perceived stress during the COVID-19 outbreak in Iraqi Kurdistan.