Exploring factors influencing depression among Polish nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has been recognized as an international public health emergency. Objectives The aim of our study was to identify contributors to nurses’ depression. Methods This survey-based study was conducted in the Pomeranian Medical University Hospital no. 1 in Szczecin and involved 207 nurses. The following standardized research instruments were applied: the World Assumptions Scale, the Athens Insomnia Scale, the Impact of Event Scale - Revised, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder, the Perceived Stress Scale, and a questionnaire of our own authorship. Results The study showed that 72.95% of the subjects experienced severe stress, and 40.58% sufferred from insomnia. In addition, 65.7% of the respondents had anxiety symptoms of varying degrees of severity, and 62.8% had depressive symptoms of mild to severe severity. The mean score on the IES-R scale, reflecting a psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, was 34.25 points. Table 1. Influence of insomnia by AIS, anxiety by GAD-7, stress by PSS-10, World Assumptions Scale on the prevalence of depressive symptoms among nurses according to PHQ-9 (Model 1,2,3) b - regression coefficient, βstand. - standardized regression coefficient, CI - confidence interval, ref - AIS reference level, Athens Insomnia Scale, GAD-7, generalized anxiety disorder; IES-R, Impact of Event Scale - Revised; PSS-10, The Perceived Stress Scale; WAS, The World Assumptions Scale Model factor b β stand. -95% CI +95% CI p Model 1 AIS (insomnia vs no insomnia) 1.571 0.250 0.155 0.344 0.000 GAD-7 (total) 0.613 0.535 0.426 0.643 0.000 Model 2 AIS( insomnia vs no insomnia) 1.471 0.234 0.139 0.329 0.000 GAD-7 (total) 0.600 0.524 0.416 0.632 0.000 PSS-10 (steny) 0.402 0.101 0.001 0.200 0.047 Model 3 AIS(( insomnia vs no insomnia) 1.536 0.244 0.148 0.340 0.000 GAD-7 (total) 0.616 0.537 0.428 0.646 0.000 PSS-10 (steny) 0.442 0.111 0.011 0.211 0.029 Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic affected the psychological health of medical staff, particularly through increased stress and anxiety symptoms. Anxiety levels and insomnia significantly affect the prevalence of depression among nurses. Disclosure of Interest None Declared