Stress, anxiety, and depression levels among family members of patients admitted to intensive care and general units of an educational hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: Hospitalization of a family member can cause anxiety and psychological problems in other members of the family. Especially if the patient is in the Intensive Care Unit or emergency hospitalization, tense as it is, the anxiety increases. The present study aimed to evaluate the level of stress, anxiety, and depression among family member in METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Shafa Hospital affiliated with Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Using the standard DASS-21 Questionnaire, levels of stress, anxiety, and depression were assessed in family member in GWs and ICUs. (N.=342). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean, SD, frequency, percentage) and analytic statistics such as Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal Wallis tests. RESULTS: The results in GWs showed that the mean and standard deviation of depression, anxiety, and stress were 6.40 +/- 2.94, 6.48 +/- 3.09 and 6.20 +/- 2.92, respectively; and also, in ICUs the results showed that the mean and standard deviation of depression, anxiety, and stress were 8.17 +/- 3.94, 8.04 +/- 4.03 and 8.15 +/- 4.16, respectively. The severity of these disorders in two groups were at a moderate level. The results of this study also demonstrate a statistically significant difference in the mean score of anxiety, depression and stress in terms of gender in family members of patients admitted CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of the present study, it is recommended that the principles of patient and family support, especially information care, are included in the in-service training of this work. Moreover, it is important to provide opportunities for nurses to be able to address this dimension of care along with their other care tasks. ety, and depression levels among family members of patients admitted to intensive care and general units of an educational hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Minerva Psychiatry 2023;64:296-301. DOI: 10.23736/S2724-6612.21.02238-7)