Impact of brief psychological intervention on reducing the psychological symptoms after COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers (HCWs) in Nepal

Narmada Devkota
Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit, Kanti Children’s Hospital, and Rhythm Neuropsychiatry Hospital & Research Center Pvt.Ltd., Nepal
Laxmi Gurung
Associate Professor, Nepalese Army Institute of Health Sciences, Syanobharyang, Kathmandu, Nepal
Prajwal Joshi
Lecturer, Master in Counseling Psychology Program, TU, Nepal
Rocky Maharjan
Lecturer, Magal Multiple College, Nepal
Bhupendra Gurung
Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit, Kanti Children’s Hospital, Nepal
Utkarsh Karki
Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit, Kanti Children’s Hospital, Nepal
Keywords:
anxiety Depression COVID-19 brief intervention HCWs PTSD

Abstract

Background: Studies from various countries showed that HCWs suffered from psychological problems during the period of COVID-19 and psychosocial intervention to address the issues was found effective. This study aimed to find out the status of depression, anxiety, stress and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among HCWs after COVID-19 infection including determining the outcome of a brief psychosocial intervention protocol in reducing the symptoms.


Methods: Group-based pretest-posttest interventional design was adopted. A total of 380 HCWs, recovered from the COVID-19 infections were selected through a purposive sampling technique. The study period was from November 2020 to January 2021. The Nepalese-translated and validated version of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale – 21(DASS-21) and Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) were used to assess the symptoms. A brief psychosocial intervention was done by a trained clinical psychologist and compared the differences in mean scores on the level of depression, anxiety, stress and PTSD symptoms before and after the intervention.


Results: This study found that about 11% HCWs had symptoms of depression, 31% had symptoms of anxiety, 3% had stress and 98.50% had symptoms of PTSD. The paired sample t-test showed a significant difference between the means for the IES-R before the intervention (M=47.94, SD=14.53) and after the intervention (M=43.63, SD=15.35); t = 5.003 and p=.000 as well as the DASS-21 mean score before (M=14.11, SD=11.74) and after (M=12.28, SD=10.81); t = 2.97 and p = .003 the intervention.


Conclusion: This study showed that this intervention protocol was found effective in reducing the symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress and PTSD symptoms of the participants. However, a longitudinal study is needed to confirm these findings


How to Cite

Devkota, N., Gurung, L., Joshi, P., Maharjan, R., Gurung, B., & Karki, U. (2023). Impact of brief psychological intervention on reducing the psychological symptoms after COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers (HCWs) in Nepal. Journal of Psychiatrists’ Association of Nepal, 12(2), 12-20. https://doi.org/10.3126/jpan.v12i2.63403


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