Sources of Health Anxiety for Hospital Staff Working during the Covid-19 Pandemic
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Department of Psychiatry, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak 3848176341, Iran
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Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak 3848176341, Iran
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Student Research Committee, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak 3848176341, Iran
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Research Center for Behavioral Disorders and Substances Abuse, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan 65174, Iran
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Departments of Physical Therapy, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35209, USA
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Sleep Disorders Research Center, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah 67146, Iran
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Center for Affective, Stress and Sleep Disorders (ZASS), Psychiatric University Hospital Basel, 4002 Basel, Switzerland
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Department of Clinical Research, University of Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland
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Division of Sport Science and Psychosocial Health, Department of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, 4052 Basel, Switzerland
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Substance Abuse Prevention Research Center Health, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah 67146, Iran
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School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 25529, Iran
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Anthony R. Mawson
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(6), 3094; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063094
Received: 12 February 2021
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Revised: 11 March 2021
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Accepted: 12 March 2021
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Published: 17 March 2021
(This article belongs to the Section Health Behavior, Chronic Disease and Health Promotion)
Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the likelihood that hospital staff will report symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress has increased. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relative influences of circumstantial, demographic, and trait–state anxiety variables on health anxiety in this group. Methods: A total of 168 hospital staff members (mean age: 28.91 years; 56.5% females) participated in the study. They completed a series of questionnaires covering sociodemographic characteristics, health anxiety, state–trait anxiety, and job-related information. Participants also reported whether they had close acquaintances (friends, family members) infected with COVID-19. Results: Higher health anxiety was related to both trait and state anxiety. Working on the frontline, being in contact with close acquaintances infected with COVID-19, and higher state and trait anxiety predicted higher health anxiety. Gender, age, and educational background were not predictors. Conclusions: In a sample of hospital staff, subjective feelings of anxiety about one own’s health were related to personality traits, individual experiences of having close acquaintances infected with COVID-19, and working on the frontline.
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Keywords:
health anxiety; state-anxiety; trait-anxiety; COVID-19; frontline hospital staff members; age; gender
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Shayganfard, M.; Mahdavi, F.; Haghighi, M.; Sadeghi-Bahmani, D.; Brand, S. Sources of Health Anxiety for Hospital Staff Working during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 3094. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063094
AMA Style
Shayganfard M, Mahdavi F, Haghighi M, Sadeghi-Bahmani D, Brand S. Sources of Health Anxiety for Hospital Staff Working during the Covid-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(6):3094. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063094
Chicago/Turabian StyleShayganfard, Mehran, Fateme Mahdavi, Mohammad Haghighi, Dena Sadeghi-Bahmani, and Serge Brand. 2021. "Sources of Health Anxiety for Hospital Staff Working during the Covid-19 Pandemic" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 6: 3094. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063094
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