Are Our COVID Warriors Cared-for Enough? A Nationwide Survey on Stress Among Doctors During the COVID-19 Pandemic

  1. Amritha Nair
  2. Jagadeesh Menon
  3. Ashwin Rammohan
  4. Abdul R Hakeem
  5. Sathya D Cherukuri
  6. Naresh Shanmugam
  7. Akila Rajakumar
  8. Mettu S Reddy
  9. Ilankumaran Kaliamoorthy
  10. Mohamed Rela

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Abstract

Limited and uneven accessibility to healthcare is a major impediment in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic which continues on inexorably, across various parts of the globe. We conducted a nationwide survey of a large sample of Indian doctors to measure levels of perceived stress, identify risk factors for severe stress and assess their response to current issues related to safety and well-being of the HCP community. The survey found severely stressed doctors to be younger (<45years), of female gender working in the ICU setting and insecure regarding their finances. Concern regarding PPE shortages and ethical dilemmas of rationing care are factors inducing severe stress amongst doctors working in ICU settings. This is the first such survey done in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic from the Indian sub-continent. The findings have important implications on the International healthcare community, especially across Africa, Asia & South America where the contagion continues to wreak havoc. The survey has identified factors which adversely impact the mental health of doctors during this Pandemic. This can act as a valuable guide for governmental authorities, professional organisations and hospital managements to establish support systems at multiple levels for these “COVID Warriors”.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.07.03.20145748: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Despite the well-known limitations of such surveys, we believe that our findings are applicable to many countries in Asia and Africa with similar healthcare systems. Governmental authorities, professional organisations and hospital managements should take the lead and establish mechanisms at multiple levels to support doctors’ financial security, ensure adequate access to PPE at work and setup dedicated helplines and counselling facilities for those needing them. Ensuring their health is key to winning this war against COVID-19.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2020.07.03.20145748v1 on medRxiv