The effect of COVID‑19 epidemic on the mental health of nurses’ family members

The COVID‑19 epidemic is a global health crisis that, in addition to physical health, has affected the mental health of all individuals, especially health‑care workers, including nurses and family members. In this regard, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of COVID‑19 epidemic on mental health of nurses’ family members.

The present descriptive‑analytic and cross‑sectional study was conducted in 2020 year on family members of nurses working in Hajar Hospital for admission and hospitalization of patients with COVID‑19, after obtaining the necessary permits and coordination. To prevent the spread of COVID‑19 through respiratory or contact droplets, a blog was designed to collect data using software. Participation in this study was voluntary. Data collection tools included consent, demographic questionnaire, and mental health questionnaire (Patient Health Questionnaire‑9). Data were analyzed by SPSS version 22.

Findings of this study showed that out of 208 family members of nurses participating in this study, 96 were male and 112 were female and their mean age was 35.78 years, and 55.3% of the participants had university education. Their mean mental health score was 12.91 ± 3.75, so that 22.6% of people had mild depression, 71.4% of people had moderate depression, and 1.8% of people had severe depression. Independent t‑test showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between mental health and gender and marital status (P < 0.001). Furthermore, one‑way analysis of variance test showed that there is a significant relationship between mental health and age (P < 0.001); this test also showed that there is no relationship between education and mental health (P = 0.75).

The results indicate that the mental health of nurses’ family members is affected by the challenges of COVID‑19 epidemic time, so that many of them suffer from some degree of depression. Therefore, supporting this population requires urgent action.