Anxiety Levels of Doctors Working in Kolkata during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-sectional Study

Doctors are amongst the major frontline health-care providers combating the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation. This overwhelming burden has not only resulted in physical exhaustion but also taken a toll on their mental health. It is thus important to determine the anxiety levels among doctors working in Kolkata and identify its associated factors which can serve as important evidence for promotion of mental well-being among them. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was done through online social media platform-based survey from August to October 2020, in Kolkata, among 313 doctors. Levels of anxiety was assessed by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (modified for COVID-19 pandemic). Univariate and multivariable logistic regression was done to find out the association of risk factors with high anxiety levels among the study participants. Results: Among 313 study participants,31.9% had mild, 22% moderate and 6.4% had severe anxiety levels. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that younger age, female gender, working in government sector, presence of associated co-morbid medical condition, working as designated frontline COVID-19 health-care worker, working in increasing number of high-risk areas in the health facility, poor quality of available personal protective equipment and increasing number of difficulties faced while working had significant association with high anxiety levels. Conclusion: Present study showed that considerable proportion (28.4%) of doctors had high anxiety levels. Maintaining appropriate COVID-19 protocols at the workplace, periodic health check-up to detect co-morbidity at the earliest, counseling services with particular attention to female providers would add on to betterment of their mental health.