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International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction

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01-04-2022 | Coronavirus | Brief Report

Fear of COVID-19 Scale for Hospital Staff in Regional Hospitals in Mexico: a Brief Report

Authors: Benjamín García-Reyna, Gilberto Daniel Castillo-García, Francisco José Barbosa-Camacho, Guillermo Alonso Cervantes-Cardona, Enrique Cervantes-Pérez, Blanca Miriam Torres-Mendoza, Clotilde Fuentes-Orozco, Kevin Josue Pintor-Belmontes, Bertha Georgina Guzmán-Ramírez, Aldo Bernal-Hernández, Alejandro González-Ojeda, Gabino Cervantes-Guevara

Published in: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction | Issue 2/2022

Abstract

The presence of COVID-19 has had psychological consequences among health personnel; these include fear, anxiety, and depression. In the current study, we used the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) to assess the response to fear within health staff in Mexico. This was a cross-sectional survey study in which we administered the Spanish version of the FCV-19S to hospital staff. The FCV-19S is a seven-item questionnaire that assesses the severity of fear caused by COVID-19. A total of 2860 participants—1641 female and 1218 male personnel from three hospitals—were included in the study. The internal reliability of the scale was good, with Cronbach’s alpha of .902. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on the seven items of the FCV-19S, showing good model fit (χ² (7) = 29.40, p < .001; CFI = .99; TLI = .99; RMSEA = .03; SRMR = .010; AIC = 71.40). We found a global FCV-19S mean score of 19.3 ± 6.9, with a significant difference in scores between women and men. Our survey shows a significantly higher level of fear in nursing and administrative personnel, which may be explained by the nursing staff being in close contact with infected patients and the administrative staff lacking understanding of the possible implications of the infection, compared with nonclinical hospital personnel. Our results are consistent with those of other researchers. We must remember that fear is a reaction and that we must be courageous enough to trust validated infection prevention practices to provide the highest standard of care, in the safest environment that we can, for as long as we can.

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Title: Fear of COVID-19 Scale for Hospital Staff in Regional Hospitals in Mexico: a Brief Report
Authors: Benjamín García-Reyna
Gilberto Daniel Castillo-García
Francisco José Barbosa-Camacho
Guillermo Alonso Cervantes-Cardona
Enrique Cervantes-Pérez
Blanca Miriam Torres-Mendoza
Clotilde Fuentes-Orozco
Kevin Josue Pintor-Belmontes
Bertha Georgina Guzmán-Ramírez
Aldo Bernal-Hernández
Alejandro González-Ojeda
Gabino Cervantes-Guevara
Publication date: 01-04-2022
Publisher: Springer US
Keywords: Coronavirus
COVID-19
Anxiety
Published in: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction / Issue 2/2022
Print ISSN: 1557-1874
Electronic ISSN: 1557-1882
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00413-x

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Fear of COVID-19 Scale for Hospital Staff in Regional Hospitals in Mexico: a Brief Report

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