Implication of COVID-19 on the mental health of Egyptian dermatologists: A cross-sectional study

Background Major epidemic outbreaks create an increased demand for healthcare workers (HCWs) and pose increased health risk and psychological distress to them as well. Aim The aim of this cross sectional study was to find out the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among Egyptian dermatologists and their possible predictor factors. Patients/Methods A cross sectional study was designed and data were collected using structured self-administered online depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS-21). Results The depression scale of DASS was 18.98 +/- 9.56 among which 38% of dermatologists had either severe or extremely severe depression and 34.2% complained of moderate depression. Meanwhile, the anxiety scale was 12.92 +/- 7.75 and 35.4 % of surveyed dermatologists had either severe or extremely severe anxiety. Thirty three percent of dermatologists were normal on stress score. Female dermatologists possessed more significant depression and stress than males (19.70 +/- 9.71 vs. 16.62 +/- 8.68, p = 0.003; 21.42 +/- 9.53 vs. 17.40 +/- 8.49, p <0.001 respectively). On the contrary, male dermatologists expressed more anxiety than female dermatologists however this was not statistically significant (13.26 +/- 7.99 vs. 12.82 +/- 7.69, p = 0.625). Conclusion To our knowledge, this is the first study to explore the differential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Egyptian dermatologists. Mental health care and support are of extreme importance to physicians mid this pandemic.