Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had a widespread impact over the health-care system all over the world. This had resulted in varying degrees of psychological issues on healthcare workers.
Aim and Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of depression among healthcare workers of a COVID-19 first line treatment center (CFLTC).
Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, 240 healthcare workers who volunteered for the study at COVID first line treatment centre-3 NIT mega boys’ hostel, Kozhikode, Kerala were recruited. They were interviewed, basic demographic data and patient health questionnaire-9 was administered. The data were analyzed with Microsoft Excel. The prevalence among various categories of healthcare workers were compared.
Results: The prevalence of depression among healthcare workers was 52%. The prevalence of depression is each category of staff-doctors, staff nurses, cleaning staffs, and patient caretakers-separately. It was found that depression is inversely proportional to the knowledge, experience, medical qualification, and training.
Conclusion: The prevalence of undetected depression is high among healthcare workers working in unconventional environment as in warfront situations such as COVID pandemic. The present study emphasizes the importance of proper screening of depression among healthcare workers in such circumstances in years to come.
Key words: Depression; Healthcare workers; HCW; CFLTC; COVID-19; COVID-19 first line treatment center
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