Suicidal ideation, burnout, and their correlation among health care workers at the end of the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Alborz Province, Iran

Rahim Badrfam; Atefeh Zandifar; Nami Mohammadian Khonsari; Mostafa Qorbani

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1261105

Suicidal ideation, burnout, and their correlation among health care workers at the end of the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Alborz Province, Iran

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Oct 13:14:1261105. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1261105. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Rahim Badrfam¹, Atefeh Zandifar^{1

2}, Nami Mohammadian Khonsari³, Mostafa Qorbani^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Imam Hossein Hospital, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.
² Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.
³ Student Research Committee, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.
⁴ Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.
⁵ Chronic Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Care Workers (HCWs) were more vulnerable than ever to Burnout and Suicidal thoughts due to stressful work conditions. This study, investigated the level of Burnout and Suicidal thoughts among HCWs during the fourth wave of the pandemic in Alborz Province in Iran and compared it with the conditions at the beginning of the pandemic.

Methods: A total of 305 HCWs from 3 referral hospitals for COVID-19, including 155 men and 150 women, participated in the study. A cross-sectional study was carried out with a sample of HCWs dealing with COVID-19 patients using the available sampling method. The results of this online survey, which was conducted from June 7 to July 5, 2021 (at the end of the Fourth Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Iran), have been compared with the conditions of the First Wave of the Pandemic (from February 24 to April 27, 2020). The participants were evaluated by the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideations (BSSI) and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI).

Results: The mean age of the participants was 36.34 ± 7.37. The means of Suicide Index (SI), Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and Personal Accomplishment (PA) scores were 0.76 ± 1.74, 19.94 ± 4.69, 4.92 ± 1.51, and 31.30 ± 5.88, respectively. SI and PA were significantly higher in workers other than nurses and physicians and EE was higher among workers with night shifts (p value<0.05 in all indices). Age had a significant and negative correlation with EE (p value<0.01) and DP (p value<0.05) and a significant and positive correlation with PA (p value<0.01).

Conclusion: This study showed a high level of SI and Burnout indices among HCWs in the fourth wave of the pandemic in Iran. Paying attention to the factors affecting the development of social capital and creating health policy changes may be effective in reducing Burnout indices and high Suicide index among HCWs.

Keywords: COVID-19; Iran; burnout; health personnel; suicidal ideation.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Alborz University of Medical Sciences under Grant number IR.ABZUMS.REC.1400.068.