key: cord-0837214-g2zdj3hk
authors: Gallopeni, Florim; Bajraktari, Ilirjana; Selmani, Erza; Tahirbegolli, Iliriana Alloqi; Sahiti, Gazmend; Muastafa, Aferdita; Bojaj, Gazmend; Muharremi, Venera Berisha; Tahirbegolli, Bernard
title: Anxiety and depressive symptoms among healthcare professionals during the Covid-19 pandemic in Kosovo: A cross sectional study
date: 2020-08-05
journal: J Psychosom Res
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2020.110212
sha: 919024f21d58f7b1eb5760b27b8a7aa317950a9d
doc_id: 837214
cord_uid: g2zdj3hk

nan

Covid-19 is the 21st century's the third outbreak coronavirus, after SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV [1] . Healthcare workers are exposed to extreme psychological distress [2] [3] [4] . In addition to an increased risk of infection, medical staff working directly with patients diagnosed with Covid-19 face multiple challenges and stresses which can also increase the risk of developing mental health symptoms.

Despite initial evidence of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental health of healthcare workers, there is insufficient data on how healthcare workers are being affected in Europe, and specifically in limited resource settings such as Kosovo. Furthermore, healthcare workers are the key building block of any health system, and vital to effective management of any public health emergency.

The pandemic caught Kosovo off guard, at a time when its health system was still dealing with the legacy of its almost total collapse during the 1998-9 war, including significant gaps in healthcare provision and chronic underfunding of institutions. Kosovo health institutions have taken measures to reduce contact and risk of disease transmission among health professionals in health facilities and, in turn, to reduce expenditure on personal protective equipment, given shortages of PPE during March and early April.

In Kosovo, the first Covid-19 cases were confirmed on 13 March 2020, making Kosovo (along with Montenegro) one of the last countries in the region, and Europe as a whole, to be affected by the pandemic. By 8 May 2020, in Kosovo there were 862 confirmed cases of Covid-19, 28 deaths, 622 recovered patients, and 9,557 people had been tested for the disease [5].

We designed a rapid online survey to examine the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental health status of healthcare professionals in public health facilities in Kosovo, using 14-J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f 

Our study shows that frequency of anxiety and depression symptoms among health professionals in Kosovo during the Covid-19 pandemics is at concerning levels, although a pre-Covid-19 comparison is lacking. Psychological support tailored to the needs of healthcare professionals is a necessity in order to help them effectively cope with stress and pressure and address/treat symptoms during pandemics, and afterwards. Psychological support for Kosovar health professionals during Covid-19 pandemics should be immediately considered.

The authors declare that they have no known conflicting financial interests or personal relationships which may have affected the research stated in this paper. 

The origin, transmission and clinical therapies on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak-an update on the status

Survey of stress reactions among health care workers involved with the SARS outbreak

We would like to thank the Heimerer College research unit for its continued assistance in finalizing the manuscript.

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.