Anxiety & Depressive Symptoms among Oil & Gas Field Workers Amid COVID-19 Outbreak in Indonesia

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic that has been going on since March 2020 has forced many upstream oil and gas companies in Indonesia to make some changes in order to be able to continue operating while controlling the spread of COVID-19 among field workers. The pandemic itself can cause stressors related to mental health, especially coupled with changes in the work system that these workers must undergo. The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors of anxiety and depressive symptoms among Indonesian upstream oil and gas field workers during pandemic. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in November 2020-February 2021, after obtaining approval from the ethics committee of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia. Data on the subjects' state of emotional and mental symptoms were collected using General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) to assess the anxiety symptoms and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ 9) to evaluate depressive symptoms. Results: A total of 1,542 completed forms were analyzed. The prevalence of workers experiencing moderate-severe depression was 2.4% and prevalence of moderate-severe anxiety symptoms was 2.5%. Factors associated with mental health symptoms were female gender (OR 2.09(1.29-3.38), age less than 40 years (OR 2.47(1.80-3.38), bachelor or doctorate graduate (OR 2.74(1.87-4.01) and change in workloads (OR 2.87(2.12-3.88). Conclusion: The mental health problems among upstream oil & gas field workers requires attention, especially for prevention and early detection to maintained and improve these workers' mental health during pandemic.