Review of the psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Purpose: The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly burdened healthcare systems worldwide and substantially affected the psychological state. The objective of this narrative review was to summarize the psychological outcome of the “Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic” on healthcare workers in kingdom of Saudi Arabia to assess their mental health outcome that can aid in development of guidelines and psychological interventions that can improve healthcare workers' quality of life, work and decision-making capability toward patient treatment during the pandemic. Materials and Methods: A comprehensive research was done to overview current available literature on psychological and mental health issues observed among healthcare workers “HCW” in Saudi Arabia. The search included all articles published since the beginning of the pandemic from January 2020 till February 2021 relevant to the subject of the review. In this review, a total of 10 primary research articles were included following a cross-sectional survey method to analyze the impact of various psychological variables. Results: Anxiety symptoms were reported by between 33.3% and 68.5% of HCWs. Between 27.9% and 55.2% of HCWs reported depressive symptoms. HCWs reported anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances and distress with a range comprised between 27.9% and 68.5%. Conclusion: The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly led to multifaceted and vigorous psychological and mental impact on healthcare providers, it is now both an opportunity and challenge to design further studies that can lead to development of guidelines in Saudi Arabia and worldwide to improve mental health infrastructure that strengthen patient oriented treatment of care plan during this pandemic.