Assessing COVID-19-related anxiety and functional impairment amongst nurses in Malawi

African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Assessing COVID-19-related anxiety and functional impairment amongst nurses in Malawi
 
Creator Chorwe-Sungani, Genesis
 
Subject General practice; rural health; primary health care anxiety; COVID-19; nurse; prevalence; functional impairment
Description Background: Psychological well-being of nurses is crucial for them to effectively discharge their duties. However, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related anxiety can interfere with nurses’ performance and reduce their self-efficacy.Aim: The primary aim of this study was to assess COVID-19-related anxiety and functional impairment amongst nurses in Malawi. The secondary aim of the study was to determine reliability and validity of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale.Setting: The study was conducted in Malawi.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that collected quantitative data from 102 nurses in Malawi online. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and receiver operating curve analysis.Results: This study found that 25.5% (26) of respondents had COVID-19-related anxiety and 48% (49) functional impairment. There were significant differences in the numbers of respondents who had functional impairment in relation to workplace (Χ2 = 8.7, p = 0.03), with many of those working in hospitals (58.6%, n = 34) having highest levels (mean = 20.6 ± 10.4). The Coronavirus Anxiety Scale proved to be an effective instrument (Sensitivity = 73.1%; Specificity = 60.5%; area under the curve = 0.73) for assessing COVID-19-related anxiety amongst nurses.Conclusion: It is necessary to screen nurses for COVID-19-related anxiety and functional impairment and provide them effective psychosocial interventions. Policymakers should place more emphasis on allocation of financial resources to mental health services and staff support programmes targeting nurses during pandemics. There is a need to conduct future research on mental health interventions that might be used to assist nurses with COVID-19-related anxiety and functional impairment.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2021-06-30
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Cross-sectional study
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/phcfm.v13i1.2823
 
Source African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine; Vol 13, No 1 (2021); 6 pages 2071-2936 2071-2928
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2823/4730 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2823/4731 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2823/4732 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/2823/4733
 
Coverage Africa April -October 2020 Nurses
Rights Copyright (c) 2021 Genesis Chorwe-Sungani https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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