1572P Psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care workers in oncology in Tunisia

Background: Between 13 March 2020 – date of national lockdown and passing to a third level national alert- and 11 May –first day of progressive release- confirmed cases rose from 24 to 1035 cases 46 deaths Knowing that oncology health workers are treating cancer patients who have a higher risk of complication due to COVID-19, strict measures were applied Understanding the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak among health care workers is crucial in guiding policies and interventions to maintain their psychological well-being Methods: Health care workers in oncology were invited to participate with a self-administered questionnaire In addition to information on demographic characteristics and medical history, the questionnaire included the validated Patient Health Questionnaire -9 (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and the Insomnia Severity Index Results: Of 100 health workers invited, 48 (48%) participated in the study;baseline characteristics are shown in the Table Eleven (22 9%) participants screened positive for anxiety, 37 (77 1%) for mild to moderately severe depression, 7 (14 6%) for severe depression, noting that 14 (29 3%) are at risk of self-harm at least on several days 15(31 3%) participants are suffering from clinical insomnia and one (2 1%) from severe insomnia The prevalence of depression was higher among nonmedical health care workers than medical personnel (76 2% versus 44 4% moderate to severe depression) Similarly, higher anxiety level were amongst paramedical staff (38 1% versus 11 1% for medical staff) 16 Participants (33 4%) suffer from clinical insomnia with higher numbers among non-medical staff (42 9% versus 25 9% for medical staff) [Formula presented] Conclusions: As the pandemic continues, important clinical and policy strategies are needed to support health care workers Our study identified a vulnerable group susceptible to psychological distress Early psychological intervention for this target group may be beneficial Legal entity responsible for the study: The authors Funding: Has not received any funding Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest