<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold>Introduction.</bold> The healthcare workers are at high risk of developing stress-related problems during outbreaks. This study aimed to explore the perceived stress and its relation to the duration of dealing with COVID-19 patients in medical doctors.<bold>Methods.</bold> The doctors who work in different medical settings in Iraqi Kurdistan during coronavirus outbreak were invited into this cross-sectional study. The doctors were invited from one pediatric, one emergency, one special corona, and one maternity and gynecology hospital. The “Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS)” measured the perceived degree of a doctor who experienced stress. The information was collected through a web-based technique to avoid the disease spread.<bold>Results.</bold> Doctors’ mean duration of dealing with suspected/confirmed cases of COVID-19 was 1.2 (Range: 0–16 days). The mean stress score was 18.81 out of 40. Most of the doctors had a moderate level of stress (69.4%), followed by a low (21.1%) and a high level of stress (9.6%). The general physicians and medical lab specialties had higher stress scores; 21.56 and 19.88, respectively. The high level of stress was among general physicians and community and family medicine doctors; 20.0% and 25.0%, respectively. Whether or not doctors dealt with suspected/confirmed cases of COVID-19, did not have a significant difference over the perceived stress score; 19.02 vs. 18.87; P = 0.786). The mean score of stress was raised with increasing duration of dealing with suspected/confirmed cases of COVID-19; r = 0.202; P = 0.004 and decreased with increasing age (r = –0.141; P = 0.045), and clinical experience (r = –0.139, P = 0.048).<bold>Conclusion.</bold> This study showed that medical doctors are at a moderate level of perceived stress during the COVID-19 outbreak in Iraqi Kurdistan.</abstract>

Introduction. The healthcare workers are at high risk of developing stress-related problems during outbreaks. This study aimed to explore the perceived stress and its relation to the duration of dealing with COVID-19 patients in medical doctors.Methods. The doctors who work in different medical settings in Iraqi Kurdistan during coronavirus outbreak were invited into this cross-sectional study. The doctors were invited from one pediatric, one emergency, one special corona, and one maternity and gynecology hospital. The “Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS)” measured the perceived degree of a doctor who experienced stress. The information was collected through a web-based technique to avoid the disease spread.Results. Doctors’ mean duration of dealing with suspected/confirmed cases of COVID-19 was 1.2 (Range: 0–16 days). The mean stress score was 18.81 out of 40. Most of the doctors had a moderate level of stress (69.4%), followed by a low (21.1%) and a high level of stress (9.6%). The general physicians and medical lab specialties had higher stress scores; 21.56 and 19.88, respectively. The high level of stress was among general physicians and community and family medicine doctors; 20.0% and 25.0%, respectively. Whether or not doctors dealt with suspected/confirmed cases of COVID-19, did not have a significant difference over the perceived stress score; 19.02 vs. 18.87; P = 0.786). The mean score of stress was raised with increasing duration of dealing with suspected/confirmed cases of COVID-19; r = 0.202; P = 0.004 and decreased with increasing age (r = –0.141; P = 0.045), and clinical experience (r = –0.139, P = 0.048).Conclusion. This study showed that medical doctors are at a moderate level of perceived stress during the COVID-19 outbreak in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived stress in clinical practice: experience of doctors in Iraqi Kurdistan

Department of Surgery, College of Medicine

Romanian Journal of Internal Medicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Introduction. The healthcare workers are at high risk of developing stress-related problems during outbreaks. This study aimed to explore the perceived stress...

The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived stress in clinical practice: experience of doctors in Iraqi Kurdistan

Published Online: Dec 17, 2020

Page range: 219 - 227

Received: May 14, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/rjim-2020-0020

Keywords
stress, healthcare workers, clinical medicine, COVID-19, pandemics

© 2020 Deldar Morad Abdulah et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived stress in clinical practice: experience of doctors in Iraqi Kurdistan

Published Online: Dec 17, 2020

Page range: 219 - 227

Received: May 14, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/rjim-2020-0020

Keywordsstress, healthcare workers, clinical medicine, COVID-19, pandemics

© 2020 Deldar Morad Abdulah et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
stress, healthcare workers, clinical medicine, COVID-19, pandemics