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| - Background: High level stress is expected when crises starts affecting people's lives and communities which is witnessed in the past epidemics. Infectious diseases outbreaks like the ongoing COVID19 pandemic have negative impact on healthcare workers' (HCWs) mental health, which needs to be investigated. Therefore, we aimed to assess the psychological impact of COVID-19 on frontline HCWs and their coping strategies. Methods: A web-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among HCWs of the Punjab province of Pakistan. The generalized anxiety scale (GAD-7), patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Brief-COPE were used to assess anxiety, depression and coping strategies of the respondents. Results: The mean age of respondents (N = 398) was 28.67 {+/-} 4.15 years, with majority of medical doctors (52%). The prevalence of anxiety and depression were 21.4% and 21.9%, respectively. There was no significant difference of anxiety and depression scores among doctors, nurses and pharmacists. Females had significantly higher anxiety (p = 0.003) and depression (p = 0.001) scores than males. Moreover, HCWs performing duties in COVID-19 ICU had significantly higher anxiety score than those from isolation wards (p = 0.020) and other departments (p = 0.014). Depression, not anxiety, score were higher among those who did not receive the infection prevention training. Most frequently adopted coping strategy was religious coping (5.98 {+/-} 1.73) followed by acceptance (5.59 {+/-} 1.55) and coping planning (4.91 {+/-} 1.85). Conclusion: A considerable proportion of HCWs are having generalized anxiety and depression during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings call for interventions to mitigate mental health risks in HCWs.
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