Stresses and consequences among physicians of Bangladesh during COVID-19 pandemic: an assessment of experience and perception.

Background: Health
providers working in non-COVID hospitals in Bangladesh may be at an increased
risk of infection with the new coronavirus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) compared to health providers working in COVID-dedicated
hospitals due to lower health security measures. Consequently, health
practitioners working at such hospitals may be the most vulnerable health group
to stress-related problems and mental illness. To our knowledge, there is no
study assessing stress-related problems in this particular population and how
this group compares to those working in COVID-dedicated units in terms of
pandemic-related stress.

Methods: An
online survey was carried out among 247 medical doctors from Bangladesh (101
females and 146 males). We report
descriptive statistics and several group comparisons.

Results: The
overall stress level among participants was moderated. There were no
statistically significant differences in pandemic-related stress between those
working in COVID units and those working in regular units. Most participants
knew both co-workers and people close to them who had tested positive for
SARS-CoV-2. Half of the participants knew someone close to them who had died
from COVID-19and 24.7% had got infected themselves.

Conclusions: Medical
doctors working in Bangladesh experience significant pandemic-related stress
regardless of whether they work in COVID-dedicated units or regular units. Our
data highlights the importance of detecting stress in health professionals and
developing strategies that aim at reducing the same.