The Psychological Impact of COVID-19 on Healthcare Workers in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

 The objective of this study was to assess the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare workers in Kurdistan, Iraq.

 Healthcare workers in four different COVID-19 hospitals in the cities of Erbil, Sulaimani, Chamchamal, and Halabja in the Kurdistan region of Iraq participated in this study on a convenience sampling method from April 10, 2020, to May 20, 2020. The degree of symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression were assessed based on the translated to Kurdish versions of the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), and Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL-25) respectively. Descriptive statistics were used to identify the prevalence of PTSD, anxiety and depression. Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis tests were performed to compare the scores based on different groups since the data was not normally distributed.

 Of 182 healthcare workers, 53.3% of participants screened positive for PTSD, 29.1% for anxiety, and 39.0% for depression. There were no significant differences in the prevalence of PTSD, anxiety, and depression according to gender and family status. However, Respondents, who were aged <40, scored higher on PCL-5, but no difference was found on HSCL-25. Nurses in the Sulaimani city, frontline workers, and those who had COVID-19 related traumatic experience scored higher on all three measures.

 The psychological impact of COVID-19 among the healthcare workers in the Kurdistan region of Iraq is at a high level of concern. Preventive programs and adaptive psychological interventions are needed.