Prevalence and pattern of anxiety in female health care workers in a tertiary care hospital.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety is very common in working females and particularly in those who are working in health care industry and it varies depending upon various sociodemographic factors. AIM: To asses prevalence and pattern of anxiety and its correlation with sociodemographic factors in female health care workers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross sectional, observational study was conducted on 300 female workers in tertiary care hospital in India. Sociodemographic data were collected using a semi-structured proforma. DSM-5 based interview was conducted to diagnose anxiety spectrum disorder after that Hamilton anxiety scale was used to assess severity in all participants and it was correlated with sociodemographic factors. Statical analysis: Data were entered in excel sheet and analysed with Microsoft excel-2013 and SPSS. Chi square, Kruskal-Walli's test and Mann Whitney U tests were applied and P value < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: A study found that 25% of female healthcare workers experienced anxiety symptoms, with 17.3% reporting mild and 7.7% moderate anxiety. Sociodemographic and occupational factors associated with higher anxiety levels including age, education level, family size, socioeconomic status, having children, medical comorbidities, work experience, job type, and shift work patterns. CONCLUSION: Mild to moderate level of anxiety is common in female health workers and it correlates with several sociodemographic and occupational factors.