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Published:
May 31, 2022DOI:
10.4314/gmj.v56i2.3Keywords:
Article Details
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Main Article Content
The burden of COVID-19 infection on medical doctors in the first year of the pan-demic in Ghana
Abstract
Objective: To quantify and describe the burden of COVID-19 infection amongst doctors in Ghana
Design: A quantitative and qualitative analysis of cross-sectional data was performed.
Setting: All 16 regions in Ghana.
Participants: Participants were medical doctors diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 2020 and March 2021.
Main outcome measures: Data sources were Ghana Medical Association and Ministry of Health records. De-mographics and workplace data included age, gender, the rank of the doctor, and location and type of current facility. Characteristics of the COVID-19 infection included the likely source, clinical and recovery status, and place of man-agement. Doctors reported their desire for a general checkup and psychological support and described the challenges encountered.
Results: The prevalence of COVID-19 infection was 88.9 cases per 1000 doctor-population. Of 544 infected doctors, 59.2% were stable but symptomatic, and 1.7% were in critical condition, with a case fatality rate of 1.7%. Overall, 31.6% had recovered from their COVID-19 infection, and the majority (82.4%) were managed at home in self-isola-tion. Compared to medical officers, house officers (OR 1.36, p=0.03), senior house officers (OR 7.60, p<0.001), and consultants (OR 2.94, p=0.001) were more likely to have a COVID-19 infection. Desire for support was varied, with 13.0% desiring someone to check on them and 9.7% desiring psychological support. The majority (75.3%) reported facing a challenge, including difficulty obtaining needed vitamins and medications, and accessing daily necessities like groceries.
Conclusions: In Ghana, COVID-19 infections greatly burden medical doctors.
