A cross-sectional study of psychological distress among doctors' spouses during COVID-19

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and subsequent lockdown restrictions brought drastic changes in the lives of the people. Doctors' community led the fight against COVID-19 as frontline warriors leaving their families at home for prolonged periods. The psychological issues among the family members, particularly spouses of doctors, are significantly high and need special attention. Aims: We aimed to assess the level of psychological distress among doctors' spouses and the possible relationship between different variables and the level of the distress. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in online mode using chain-referral sampling method. Sample size was 120 and comprises doctors' spouses who were not related to medical field. Those who were working in medical field or having any past psychological illness were excluded from the study. A semi-structured pro forma was used to collect the basic demographic details, and Kessler's Psychological Distress Scale (K10) was used to rate psychological distress. Results: 72.5% of the study population had reported psychological distress, and half of these participants reported severe psychological distress. Age was the single variable that had significance (P < 0.1), whereas other variables did not show statistically significant values. Conclusion: Psychological distress is much higher compared to the general population in the spouses of the doctors. In long run, this may result in psychological illnesses such as depression and anxiety disorders. As a special group, these require targeted interventions and care for the prevention of severe mental health problems.