Prevalence of Coronaphobia Among Healthcare Workers in Tertiary Care Hospitals of Peshawar
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61919/jhrr.v5i2.1746Keywords:
Healthcare workers, Coronaphobia, COVID-19, Doctors, NursesAbstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted healthcare professionals' mental well-being, with fear and anxiety leading to a phenomenon termed "coronaphobia." Limited data exist on the prevalence of coronaphobia among healthcare workers (HCWs) in Peshawar, Pakistan, highlighting the need for this study. Objective: To determine the prevalence of coronaphobia among HCWs in tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar and assess its severity across different demographic categories, including gender and age. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in three public tertiary care hospitals of Peshawar (HMC, LRH, and KTH) with a sample size of 378 HCWs, including doctors and nurses. Participants diagnosed with COVID-19 or psychological disorders were excluded. Data were collected using the COVID-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-SE), a validated instrument comprising psychological, psychosomatic, economic, and social domains. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22, with descriptive and inferential statistics applied. Results: Among 378 participants, 68.8% exhibited moderate coronaphobia, while 25.1% experienced severe coronaphobia. Males showed a higher prevalence than females (P = 0.326, statistically not significant). The most affected age group was 26-35 years (P = 0.482). No statistically significant associations were found between coronaphobia and demographic variables. Conclusion: A significant proportion of HCWs in Peshawar experienced moderate to severe coronaphobia, which may impact their psychological resilience and work efficiency. Mental health interventions and workplace support programs are necessary to mitigate fear and stress among frontline healthcare workers.
Downloads
References
Ronchi A, Pietrasanta C, Zavattoni M, Saruggia M, Schena F, Sinelli MT, et al. Evaluation of rooming-in practice for neonates born to mothers with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection in Italy. JAMA pediatrics. 2021;175(3):260-6.
Jütte R. Hand washing before meals–a distinctive marker between Jews and Gentiles before the Emancipation. Handgebrauch: Wilhelm Fink; 2019. p. 97-110.
Islam N, Chivese T, Alam MF. Utilisation of healthcare services for respiratory tract infections in patients with and without diabetes in Qatar: a cross-sectional study. BMJ open. 2020;10(12):e041761.
Health NIo. New coronavirus stable for hours on surfaces. URL: https://www nih gov/news-events/news-releases/new-coronavirus-stable-hours-surfaces Access Date: March. 2020;23.
Amiri AS, Akram M, BEMS M. COVID-19: The challenges of the human life. Social Work & Social Sciences Rewiew. 2020;17(1).
Kumar D, Malviya R, Sharma PK. Corona virus: a review of COVID-19. EJMO. 2020;4(1):8-25.
Organization WH. Coronavirus. 2020.
Lee SA, Jobe MC, Mathis AA, Gibbons JA. Incremental validity of coronaphobia: Coronavirus anxiety explains depression, generalized anxiety, and death anxiety. Journal of anxiety disorders. 2020;74:102268.
Labrague LJ, De Los Santos JAA. Prevalence and predictors of coronaphobia among frontline hospital and public health nurses. Public Health Nursing. 2020.
Bueno-Notivol J, Gracia-García P, Olaya B, Lasheras I, López-Antón R, Santabárbara J. Prevalence of depression during the COVID-19 outbreak: A meta-analysis of community-based studies. International journal of clinical and health psychology. 2021;21(1):100196.
Saleem Z, Majeed MM, Rafique S, Siqqiqui Z, Ghandhi D, Tariq H, et al. COVID-19 pandemic fear and anxiety among healthcare professionals in Pakistan. 2020.
Kang L, Ma S, Chen M, Yang J, Wang Y, Li R, Yao L, Bai H, Cai Z, Yang BX, Hu S. Impact on mental health and perceptions of psychological care among medical and nursing staff in Wuhan during the 2019 novel coronavirus disease outbreak: A cross-sectional study. Brain, behavior, and immunity. 2020 Jul 1;87:11-7.
Li W, Yang Y, Liu Z-H, Zhao Y-J, Zhang Q, Zhang L, et al. Progression of mental health services during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. International journal of biological sciences. 2020;16(10):1732
Singhal T. A review of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). The Indian Journal of Pediatrics. 2020:1-6.
Goyal K, Chauhan P, Chhikara K, Gupta P, Singh MP. Fear of COVID 2019: First suicidal case in India! Asian journal of psychiatry. 2020;49:101989
Asmundson GJ, Taylor S. Coronaphobia: Fear and the 2019-nCoV outbreak. Journal of anxiety disorders. 2020;70:102196.
Gerhold L. COVID-19: Risk perception and Coping strategies.
Pakpour A, Griths M. The fear of COVID-19 and its role in preventive behaviors. Journal of Concurrent Disorders.
Zarghami M. Psychiatric aspects of coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection. Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci. 2020;14(1):2019-21.
Zegarra-Valdivia J, Vilca BNC, Guerrero Knowledge, perception and attitudes in Regard to COVID-19 Pandemic in Peruvian Population. 2020.
Kang L, Li Y, Hu S, Chen M, Yang C, Yang BX, et al. The mental health of medical workers in Wuhan, China dealing with the 2019 novel coronavirus. The Lancet Psychiatry. 2020;7(3):e14.
Bo H-X, Li W, Yang Y, Wang Y, Zhang Q, Cheung T, et al. Posttraumatic stress symptoms and attitude toward crisis mental health services among clinically stable patients with COVID-19 in China. Psychological medicine. 2020:1-2.
Urooj U, Ansari A, Siraj A, Khan S, Tariq H. Expectations, Fears and Perceptions of doctors during Covid19 Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences. 2020;36(COVID19- S4).
Alwani SS, Majeed MM, Hirwani MZ, Rauf S, Saad SM, Shah SH, et Evaluation of Knowledge, Practices, Attitude and Anxiety of Pakistans Nurses towards COVID-19 during the Current Outbreak in Pakistan. medRxiv. 2020
Wang Y, McKee M, Torbica A, Stuckler D. Systematic literature review on the spread of health-related misinformation on social media. Social Science & Medicine. 2019:112552
Faridah Amin SS, Rabeeya Saeed et COVID-19 Pandemic- Knowledge, Perception, Anxiety and Depression Among Frontline Doctors of Pakistan. Research Square. 2020.
Ahmed MA, Jouhar R, Ahmed N, Adnan S, Aftab M, Zafar MS, et Fear and practice modications among dentists to combat Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) outbreak. International journal of environmental research public health. 2020;17(8):2821.
Ahmed N, Shakoor M, Vohra F, Abduljabbar T, Mariam Q, Rehman Knowledge, Awareness and Practice of Health care Professionals amid SARS-CoV-2, Corona Virus Disease Outbreak. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences. 2020;36(COVID19-S4).
Transforming and scaling up health professionals’ education and training. World Health Organization Guidelines. 2013.
Ahorsu DK, Lin C-Y, Imani V, Saffari M, Griths MD, Pakpour A. The fear of COVID-19 scale: development and initial validation. International journal of mental health addiction. 2020.
Shereen MA, Khan S, Kazmi A, Bashir N, Siddique R. COVID-19 infection: Origin, transmission, and characteristics of human coronaviruses. Journal of advanced research. 2020 Jul;24:91.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Aqib Javid, Sumreen Bano, Ismail Khan , Maimuna Khan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Public Licensing Terms
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Under this license:
- You are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) for any purpose, including commercial use.
- Attribution must be given to the original author(s) and source in a manner that is reasonable and does not imply endorsement.
- No additional restrictions may be applied that conflict with the terms of this license.
For more details, visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
