{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,3]],"date-time":"2026-11-03T09:06:55Z","timestamp":1793696815668,"version":"4.5.1"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"PeerJ","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,17]],"date-time":"2021-05-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1621209600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The outbreak of the novel Corona Virus Infectious Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly to many countries leading to thousands of deaths globally. The burden of this pandemic has affected the physical and mental health of the frontline health care workers (HCWs) who are exposed to high risk of infection and psychological stressors.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Aims<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The aim is to measure the level of depression among healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia during COVID-19 pandemic to establish interventional strategies.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Method<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A descriptive cross-sectional study was used to conduct the current study. The data of this study was recruited between 15 June and 15 July 2020 from healthcare providers who work in both public and private healthcare sectors in Riyadh and Eastern province in Saudi Arabia utilizing a self-administered questionnaire. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group (IRB Log No. RC20.06.88-2). Data were collected by using The Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale SDS. A total of 900 healthcare providers working in the healthcare setting during COVID-19 pandemic were invited to participate in the study. A total of 650 healthcare providers participated in the study by completing and submitting the survey.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Almost 30% suffered from depression which can be divided into three categories; mild depression (26.2%), moderate\/major (2.5%) and severe\/extreme (0.8%). The finding shows that the level of depression among respondents at the age range of 31\u201340 years old was significantly higher than the level of depression among respondents with the age above 50 years old. Non-Saudi healthcare workers experienced more depression than Saudi workers. It also shows how nurses suffered from depression compared to their physician colleagues. Those who did not suffer from sleeping disorder perceived more depression as compared to those who are having sleeping disorder.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>It is recommended that health care facilities should implement strategies to reduce the prevalence of mental health problems among healthcare providers and eventually it will improve their performance in provision of safe and high-quality care for patients.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.7717\/peerj.11469","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,17]],"date-time":"2021-05-17T03:45:58Z","timestamp":1621223158000},"page":"e11469","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the level of depression among health care workers: cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.7717","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9471-2767","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Abbas","family":"Al Mutair","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Center, Almoosa Specialist Hospital, Alhasa, Saudi Arabia"},{"name":"College of Nursing, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia"},{"name":"School of Nursing, University of Wollongong, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4181-6279","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Alya","family":"Al Mutairi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Taibah University, Medina, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zainab","family":"Ambani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"King Saud Ben Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abbas","family":"Shamsan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sana","family":"AlMahmoud","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Imam Abdurrahman Bin Faisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4552-4513","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Saad","family":"Alhumaid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Administration of Pharmaceutical Care, Al-Ahsa Health Cluster, Ministry of Health, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"4443","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,17]]},"reference":[{"issue":"5","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1890","DOI":"10.3390\/app10051890","article-title":"Examining and adapting the psychometric properties of the Maslach burnout inventory-health services survey (MBI-HSS) among healthcare professionals","volume":"10","author":"Al Mutair","year":"2020","journal-title":"Applied Sciences"},{"issue":"3","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"80","DOI":"10.4103\/sccj.sccj_2_18","article-title":"Cross-sectional study of the overall emotional functioning of health-care providers in Saudi","volume":"1","author":"Al Mutair","year":"2017","journal-title":"Saudi Critical Care Journal"},{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1065","DOI":"10.2147\/RMHP.S279716","article-title":"Emotional Wellbeing in Saudi Arabia During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a national survey","volume":"14","author":"Al Mutair","year":"2021","journal-title":"Risk Management and Healthcare Policy"},{"issue":"1","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s40001-020-00462-x","article-title":"Clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory characteristics of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients in Saudi Arabia: an observational cohort study","volume":"25","author":"Al Mutair","year":"2020","journal-title":"European Journal of Medical Research"},{"issue":"1","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"0300060519858030","DOI":"10.1177\/0300060519858030","article-title":"Narrative review of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection: updates and implications for practice","volume":"48","author":"Al Mutair","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of International Medical Research"},{"issue":"1","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"157","DOI":"10.3390\/app10010157","article-title":"Predicting burnout factors among healthcare providers at private hospitals in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates: a cross-sectional study","volume":"10","author":"Al-Omari","year":"2020","journal-title":"Applied Sciences"},{"issue":"11","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1639","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jiph.2020.09.003","article-title":"Clinical characteristics of non-intensive care unit COVID-19 patients in Saudi Arabia: a descriptive cross-sectional study","volume":"13","author":"Al-Omari","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Infection and Public Health"},{"issue":"11","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1645","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jiph.2020.09.001","article-title":"Prevalence and predictors of anxiety among healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic","volume":"13","author":"Alenazi","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Infection and Public Health"},{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"365","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jad.2020.09.080","article-title":"Depressed, anxious, and stressed: what have healthcare workers on the frontlines in Egypt and Saudi Arabia experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic?","volume":"278","author":"Arafa","year":"2021","journal-title":"Journal of Affective Disorders"},{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1017\/S0033291720000999","article-title":"Posttraumatic stress symptoms and attitude toward crisis mental health services among clinically stable patients with COVID-19 in China","author":"Bo","year":"2020","journal-title":"Psychological Medicine"},{"issue":"4","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"190","DOI":"10.1055\/a-1159-5551","article-title":"COVID-19-Pandemie: Belastungen des medizinischen Personals: Ein kurzer aktueller review","volume":"47","author":"Bohlken","year":"2020","journal-title":"Psychiatrische Praxis"},{"issue":"4","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e15","DOI":"10.1016\/S2215-0366(20)30078-X","article-title":"Mental health care for medical staff in China during the COVID-19 outbreak","volume":"7","author":"Chen","year":"2020","journal-title":"The Lancet Psychiatry"},{"issue":"6","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-13","first-page":"436","article-title":"COVID-19 infection in Italy: an occupational injury","volume":"110","author":"Chirico","year":"2020","journal-title":"SAMJ: South African Medical Journal"},{"issue":"2","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-14","first-page":"165","article-title":"Tribute to healthcare operators threatened by COVID-19 pandemic","volume":"5","author":"Chirico","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Health and Social Sciences"},{"issue":"1","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1192\/bji.2020.39","article-title":"Protecting the mental health of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 emergency","volume":"18","author":"Chirico","year":"2021","journal-title":"BJPsych International"},{"issue":"6","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1583","DOI":"10.1111\/jep.13444","article-title":"Mental health of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy","volume":"26","author":"Di Tella","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice"},{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"144","DOI":"10.1016\/j.genhosppsych.2020.03.011","article-title":"Psychological symptoms among frontline healthcare workers during COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan","volume":"67","author":"Du","year":"2020","journal-title":"General Hospital Psychiatry"},{"issue":"1","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"125","DOI":"10.1037\/0882-7974.4.1.125","article-title":"Psychometric evaluation of the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale using an elderly community sample","volume":"4","author":"Dunn","year":"1989","journal-title":"Psychology and Aging"},{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"80","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jad.2020.06.027","article-title":"Coping behaviors associated with decreased anxiety and depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown","volume":"275","author":"Fullana","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Affective Disorders"},{"issue":"4","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0231924","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0231924","article-title":"Mental health problems and social media exposure during COVID-19 outbreak","volume":"15","author":"Gao","year":"2020","journal-title":"PLOS ONE"},{"issue":"2","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"110219","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pnpbp.2020.110219","article-title":"Mental health consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak in Spain: a longitudinal study of the alarm situation and return to the new normality","volume":"107","author":"Gonz\u00e1lez-Sanguino","year":"2020","journal-title":"Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry"},{"issue":"10223","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"497","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30183-5","article-title":"Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China","volume":"395","author":"Huang","year":"2020","journal-title":"The lancet"},{"issue":"3","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e203976","DOI":"10.1001\/jamanetworkopen.2020.3976","article-title":"Factors associated with mental health outcomes among health care workers exposed to coronavirus disease 2019","volume":"3","author":"Lai","year":"2020","journal-title":"JAMA Network Open"},{"issue":"3","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e203976","DOI":"10.1001\/jamanetworkopen.2020.3976","article-title":"Factors associated with mental health outcomes among health care workers exposed to coronavirus disease 2019","volume":"3","author":"Lai","year":"2020","journal-title":"JAMA network open"},{"issue":"4","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"233","DOI":"10.1177\/070674370705200405","article-title":"Stress and psychological distress among SARS survivors 1 year after the outbreak","volume":"52","author":"Lee","year":"2007","journal-title":"The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry"},{"issue":"4","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"241","DOI":"10.1177\/070674370705200406","article-title":"Immediate and sustained psychological impact of an emerging infectious disease 15 outbreak on health care workers","volume":"52","author":"McAlonan","year":"2007","journal-title":"The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry"},{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"901","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bbi.2020.05.026","article-title":"Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and insomnia among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"88","author":"Pappa","year":"2020","journal-title":"Brain, Behavior, and Immunity"},{"issue":"16","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2218","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/ciaa287","article-title":"Risk factors of healthcare workers with coronavirus disease 2019: a retrospective cohort study in a designated hospital of Wuhan in China","volume":"71","author":"Ran","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clinical Infectious Diseases"},{"issue":"7","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1530","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajem.2020.04.030","article-title":"Preserving mental health and resilience in frontline healthcare workers during COVID-19","volume":"38","author":"Santarone","year":"2020","journal-title":"The American Journal of Emergency Medicine"},{"issue":"5","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1059","DOI":"10.5811\/westjem.2020.7.48684","article-title":"The impact of COVID-19 on healthcare worker wellness: a scoping review","volume":"21","author":"Shreffler","year":"2020","journal-title":"Western Journal of Emergency Medicine"},{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-31","article-title":"Maintaining essential health services during the COVID-19 outbreak","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2020"},{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-32","article-title":"WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2021"},{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e923549-1","DOI":"10.12659\/MSM.923549","article-title":"The effects of social support on sleep quality of medical staff treating patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in January and February 2020 in China","volume":"26","author":"Xiao","year":"2020","journal-title":"Medical Science Monitor: International Medical Journal of Experimental and Clinical Research"},{"issue":"1","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"390","DOI":"10.1111\/ppc.12659","article-title":"The relationship between psychological resilience, burnout, stress, and sociodemographic factors with depression in nurses and midwives during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study in Turkey","volume":"57","author":"Y\u00f6r\u00fck","year":"2020","journal-title":"Perspectives in Psychiatric Care"},{"issue":"4","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"242","DOI":"10.1159\/000507639","article-title":"Mental health and psychosocial problems of medical health workers during the COVID-19 epidemic in China","volume":"89","author":"Zhang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics"},{"issue":"7","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"574","DOI":"10.1176\/appi.ajp.2020.20030304","article-title":"Mental health response to the COVID-19 outbreak in China","volume":"177","author":"Zhou","year":"2020","journal-title":"American Journal of Psychiatry"},{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-37","article-title":"Detecting community depression dynamics due to covid-19 pandemic in Australia","author":"Zhou","year":"2020"},{"issue":"6","key":"10.7717\/peerj.11469\/ref-38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1168","DOI":"10.1007\/s10900-020-00921-w","article-title":"Prevalence of depression, anxiety, distress and insomnia and related factors in healthcare workers during COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey","volume":"45","author":"\u015eahin","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Community Health"}],"container-title":["PeerJ"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/peerj.com\/articles\/11469.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/peerj.com\/articles\/11469.xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/peerj.com\/articles\/11469.html","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/peerj.com\/articles\/11469.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,17]],"date-time":"2021-05-17T03:46:04Z","timestamp":1621223164000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/peerj.com\/articles\/11469"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,17]]},"references-count":38,"alternative-id":["10.7717\/peerj.11469"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7717\/peerj.11469","archive":["CLOCKSS","LOCKSS","Portico"],"relation":{"has-review":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.7287\/peerj.11469v0.3\/reviews\/3","asserted-by":"object"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.7287\/peerj.11469v0.1\/reviews\/2","asserted-by":"object"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.7287\/peerj.11469v0.1\/reviews\/3","asserted-by":"object"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.7287\/peerj.11469v0.3\/reviews\/1","asserted-by":"object"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.7287\/peerj.11469v0.1\/reviews\/1","asserted-by":"object"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.7287\/peerj.11469v0.4\/reviews\/1","asserted-by":"object"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.7287\/peerj.11469v0.2\/reviews\/3","asserted-by":"object"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.7287\/peerj.11469v0.2\/reviews\/1","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["2167-8359"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2167-8359","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,17]]},"article-number":"e11469"}}