A Comparison Of Hospital Worker Anxiety In COVID-19 Treating And Non- Treating Hospitals In The Same City During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect on hospital worker anxiety resulting from an administrative decision of a medical organization during the COVID-19 pandemic to operate one of its two hospitals in same city as a COVID-19 treatment hospital (CTH), suspending all elective procedures and to have the second function as a non COVID-19 treating hospital (NCTH) offering general medical services. Method: During the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, while the country was under lock-down, an electronic questionnaire was sent to the CTH and to the NCTH, both part of the same medical organization in Jerusalem. The questionnaire surveys personal demographics and attitudes about COVID-19 and assesses present anxiety state using the 20-question portion of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults (STAI-S) validated questionnaire. A STAI-S score of ≥45 was considered to represent clinical anxiety. Results: Questionnaires were received from 1,570 (21%) of the hospital staffs. Among the responders, 35% of CTH workers and 29% of NCTH workers had STAI-S scores ≥ 45 (p = 0.04). Multivariable regression analysis showed that being a resident doctor (odds ration [OR] 2.13; 95% CL, 1.41-3.23; P = 0.0003), age ≤ 50 (OR, 2.08; 95% Cl, 1.62-2.67; P <.0001), being a nurse (OR, 1.29; 95% CL, 1.01-1.64; P = 0.399), female gender (OR, 1.63; 95% CL, 1.25-2.13; P = 0.0003) and having risk factors for COVID-19 (OR, 1.51; 95% CL, 1.19-1.91; P = 0.0007) were associated with the presence of clinical anxiety. Forty-three percent of the workers indicated that having good protective gear relieved their stress and 50% that concern with infecting their families increased their stress. Conclusions: The creation of a CTH and a NCTH during the COVID-19 pandemic did not result in a difference between the clinical anxiety levels of the hospital workers of the two hospitals.