Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.24869/psyd.2021.620
PHYSICIANS REACTIONS TO COVID-19: THE RESULTS OF A PRELIMINARY INTERNATIONAL INTERNET SURVEY
Parul Aneja
; UPMC Pinnacle, Harrisburg, USA
Inderjit Singh
; Roche Diabetes Care Inc., Indianapolis, USA
Bhupinder Singh
; University of Illinois college of Medicine, Ascension St Francis Hospital Evanston, IL, USA
Pardeep Singh Kundi
; Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, Canada
Inderbir Singh
; Essex Partnership University MHS Foundation Trust, UK
Sanjana Kathiravan
; Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
Shubh Mohan Singh
; Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
Abstract
Objectives: Physicians across the world have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was
designed and conducted to assess the emotional and behavioural reactions of physicians to the initial phase of the COVID-19
pandemic.
Subjects and methods: An online survey questionnaire using the google forms platform was constructed by the authors. The
items in the questionnaire were based on clinical experience, relevant literature review and discussion with peers. A list of issues
that were deemed as essential components of the experience of the pandemic relevant to physicians was arrived at. Thereafter these
issues were operationalized into question form and hosted on the google forms platform. The link to this questionnaire was
circulated by the authors among their peer groups in the month of April 2020.
Results: We received 295 responses and 3 were unusable. Most of the responses were from India, the United States of America,
Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. About 60% of the respondents identified themselves as frontline and had a decade of
clinical experience. Most respondents reported being anxious due to the pandemic and also observed the same in their peers and
families. A majority also observed changes in behaviour in self and others and advanced a variety of reasons and concerns. A sense
of duty was the most commonly employed coping mechanism.
Conclusion: Physicians are not immune from information and misinformation, or cues in the environment. Behavioural choices
are not always predicted by knowledge but by a combination of knowledge, emotional state, personality and environment.
Healthcare settings need to be ready for emergencies and should focus on reducing uncertainty in physicians. These factors may also
be gainfully used in the mental health promotion of physicians in COVID-19 care roles.
Keywords
COVID-19; physician; reaction; emotional; behaviour
Hrčak ID:
269115
URI
Publication date:
21.12.2021.
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