{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T13:36:47Z","timestamp":1787751407994,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":60,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,25]],"date-time":"2022-04-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1650844800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>The purpose of the study was to examine the level of generalized anxiety disorder among occupational and physical therapists during treatment sessions and its association with somatic symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>A descriptive cross-sectional design was used in this study. Data were collected during the month of April 2021, and the study included occupational and physical therapists who practiced during COVID-19 from March 2020 to March 2021. The generalized anxiety disorder scale (GAD-7) and a modified patient health questionnaire (mPHQ-15) were used to examine self-reported anxiety and somatic symptoms among the study participants. The independent <jats:italic>t<\/jats:italic>-test was used to determine differences between groups based on GAD-7 and mPHQ-15 results. Spearman's correlation test and chi-squared test were used to find the relationships between different variables such as anxiety and somatic symptoms.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>The study (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 98 participants) included 56 occupational and 42 physical therapists. An 84% response rate was achieved. GAD-7 final score was \u03bc = 9.21 \u00b1 5.63 with 27% reporting no anxiety, 14% mild, 38% moderate, and 21% severe. Independent <jats:italic>t<\/jats:italic>-tests on GAD-7 scores showed significant differences between therapist specializations [<jats:italic>t<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>(96)<\/jats:sub> = \u22122.256; <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.026] and between therapists residing with or without their parents [<jats:italic>t<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>(96)<\/jats:sub> = \u22122.536; <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.013]. The mPHQ-15 final score was \u03bc = 9.52 \u00b1 5.54 with 13% reporting no symptoms (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 13), 20% mild (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 20), 38% moderate (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 37), and 29% severe (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic> = 28). GAD-7 and mPHQ-15 scores were moderately positively correlated [<jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic><jats:sub>(96)<\/jats:sub> = 0.569; <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt;0.000]. The chi-squared test showed a significant association between GAD-7 levels of anxiety and mPHQ-15 levels of somatic symptoms [<jats:italic>x<\/jats:italic><jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup><jats:sub>(9, N = 98)<\/jats:sub> = 70.62 <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt;0.000]. Therapists reported that the quality (76%) and effectiveness (20%) of their rehabilitation services were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The majority of study participants experienced moderate to severe anxiety and associated somatic symptoms. During COVID-19, ongoing psychological counseling of healthcare professionals such as occupational and physical therapists is required to maintain positive mental health. Implications for practice are presented.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2022.891276","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,25]],"date-time":"2022-04-25T10:31:40Z","timestamp":1650882700000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Manifestation of Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Its Association With Somatic Symptoms Among Occupational and Physical Therapists During the COVID-19 Pandemic"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Musaed Z.","family":"Alnaser","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Naser","family":"Alotaibi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohammed Sh.","family":"Nadar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fahad","family":"Manee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hesham N.","family":"Alrowayeh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","unstructured":"WHOWHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard2021"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e003097","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh-2020-003097","article-title":"A Infection and mortality of healthcare workers worldwide from COVID-19: a systematic review","volume":"5","author":"Bandyopadhyay","year":"2020","journal-title":"BMJ Global Health."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"989","DOI":"10.1111\/anae.15116","article-title":"Deaths in healthcare workers due to COVID-19: the need for robust data and analysis","volume":"75","author":"Kursumovic","year":"2020","journal-title":"Anaesthesia."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"790","DOI":"10.1016\/S2214-109X(20)30204-7","article-title":"The experiences of health-care providers during the COVID-19 crisis in China: a qualitative study","volume":"8","author":"Liu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lacet Global Health."},{"key":"B5","unstructured":"2021 Population Statistics Report2021"},{"key":"B6","unstructured":"Kuwait Ministry of HealthCOVID-19 Updates: Cases by Date List2021"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1101\/2021.07.24.21261059","article-title":"Data analysis and forecasting of COVID-19 pandemic in Kuwait","author":"Oshinubi","year":"2021","journal-title":"medRxiv."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"53","DOI":"10.1097\/HRP.0000000000000085","article-title":"Mind-body interactions in anxiety and somatic symptoms","volume":"24","author":"Mallorqu\u00ed-Bagu\u00e9","year":"2016","journal-title":"Harv Rev Psychiatry."},{"key":"B9","volume-title":"Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders","year":"2013"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"779498","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2022.779498","article-title":"Factors associated with experiences of fear, anxiety, depression, and changes in sleep pattern during the COVID-19 pandemic among adults in Nigeria: a cross-sectional study","volume":"10","author":"Folayan","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"116","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpsychores.2014.11.007","article-title":"Differential associations of specific depressive and anxiety disorders with somatic symptoms","volume":"78","author":"Bekhuis","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Psychosom Res."},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"66","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajp.2018.07.009","article-title":"Anxiety and somatic symptoms among elderly patients with depression","volume":"41","author":"Grover","year":"2019","journal-title":"Asian J Psychiatr."},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"110293","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpsychores.2020.110293","article-title":"Exploring temporal relationships among worrying, anxiety, and somatic symptoms","volume":"146","author":"Groen","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Psychosom Res."},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"875","DOI":"10.1111\/bjhp.12430","article-title":"COVID-19-related anxiety predicts somatic symptoms in the UK population","volume":"25","author":"Shevlin","year":"2020","journal-title":"Br J Health Psychol."},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"568329","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyt.2020.568329","article-title":"Prevalence and correlation of anxiety, insomnia and somatic symptoms in a Chinese population during the COVID-19 epidemic","volume":"11","author":"Huang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front Psychiatry"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0242538","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0242538","article-title":"Fragile heroes. 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