Assessment of stress and anxiety levels among doctors of therapeutic specialties
Authors:   Samara State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Samara, Russia, Babanov S. A. , Ostryakova N. A. ,   Sochinsky Sanatorium of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Sochi, Russia, Lysova M. V. ,   Sochinsky Sanatorium of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Sochi, Russia
Published: February 2025

Introduction. In a situation of high epidemic risk during the pandemic of the new coronavirus infection COVID-19, nurses turned out to be one of the most vulnerable categories among health workers in terms of the level of professional stress, professional burnout, anxiety, use of coping strategies, and decreased quality of life.
Objective. To establish the characteristics of professional burnout, the level of anxiety,
implemented coping strategies and the quality of life of nurses working in the «red zone», multidisciplinary hospitals, and polyclinics during the COVID -19 pandemic.
Material and methods. The study was carried out at the Department of Occupational Diseases and Clinical Pharmacology named after Honored Scientist of the Russian
Federation, Professor V. V. Kosarev, Samara State Medical University of the Minis
try of Health of Russia, and the Regional Center for Occupational Pathology, Samara City Hospital No. 5. The following groups of medical workers were examined: the first group consisted of nurses working in the «red zone» (MS, working in the «red zone») (n=29); the second group consisted of nurses working in a multidisciplinary
hospital (MS, working in a multidisciplinary hospital — MPS) (n=31); the third group
consisted of nurses working in outpatient clinics (MS, working in a outpatient clinic)
(n=29); the fourth, control group (CG), included employees of engineering and technical and economic specialties, not related by profile of activity to work in medical organizations (n=190). The assessment of professional burnout syndrome was carried out using the questionnaire for assessment of professional burnout «Maslach Burnout», developed by American psychologists S. Maslach, S. E. Jackson in adaptation by N. E. Vodopyanova, E. S. Starchenkova, as well as the questionnaire of V. V. Boyko. The study used the Integrative Anxiety Test (IAT) to study the formation of psychoemotional disorders in nurses during the NCI pandemic. The assessment of coping strategies in nurses during the NCI COVID-19 pandemic was carried out according to the method developed by R. Lazarus and S. Folkman in 1988, adapted by E. V. Kuftyak. The quality of life was determined using the SF-36 questionnaire. The obtained data were processed using the Statistica statistical package from StatSof t (USA).
Results. It was found that the work of the MS during the COVID-19 pandemic is associ
ated with the impact on health workers of a number of specific risk factors associated
with the provision of medical care to infected patients, as well as with significant
changes in work regarding aspects related to the organization, safety, which contribute to an increase in the level of professional stress, professional burnout, and a decrease in the quality of life.
Conclusion. The work of RNs in the conditions of a COVID hospital, when compared
with RNs working in the MPS, nurses working in outpatient clinics, is associated with
an increase in the level of professional stress, the level of professional burnout, the level of anxiety, an increase in the level of use of coping strategies, and a decrease in the quality of life. It is necessary to continue research into the emotional state of RNs in order to conduct timely preventive treatment to maintain the health of this category of health workers. Limitations of the study. The study has regional (Samara Region) and professional (according to the details of working conditions in the studied comparison groups) limitations.