Mental health status among health care workers in primary care exposed to COVID-19 pandemic in North Batinah, Oman

Background The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is causing an enormous strain on healthcare providers worldwide, from general practitioners to physicians and pharmacists Health Care Worker (HCW) in primary care is the first line defender in the community The disease impact is being felt both by those who care directly for COVID patients and those who practice in the community Methods A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted in primary care/ Health centers in the North Batinah region of Oman to assess healthcare workers' psychological responses and related factors during the Covid-19 outbreak All doctors and nurses working in primary health care services were invited to participate in the study by filling in the study questionnaire An electronic survey link was sent out via email Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS (IBM SPSS Statistics 24 0) Result About 67% of study participants were age 30-40, 76 5% were female, 95 4% were married, and 74 8% lived with spouse and children More than one quarter (26 5%) were GP's, 63 9% nurses, and 9 7% were in family practice More than two-thirds of HCW had no stress Overall existence of anxiety was found significantly different among health care professionals (p-0 007) More than half of the health care professionals reported no depression Female staff anxiety level was significantly higher than male staff (P-0 008) In general, depression prevalence was observed higher in female staff than male ones However, no significant gender difference was observed Conclusion HCWs who work in the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic are at high risk for developing mental health issues and an effect on physical health Their mental well-being is crucial for sustainable health care services in primary care The issue of psychological problems during the Covid-19 outbreak global disaster needs special attention