Comparison of stress, anxiety, and depression between pre-hospital emergency operational staff and hospital emergency department nurses.
Journal of education and health promotion · 2026-01-01 · Observational study
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Due to the nature of their work, pre-hospital emergency staff and emergency department nurses are exposed to high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. The present study is designed to compare the stress, anxiety, and depression levels between pre-hospital emergency staff and emergency department nurses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 143 nurses working in the emergency departments of Shahid Modarres, Hefdah-e-Shahrivar, and Imam Reza hospitals, as well as operational staff in urban and rural pre-hospital emergency stations in Saveh and Zarandieh counties in 2023. The samples were selected through consensus sampling based on inclusion criteria. Data collection tools included a demographic questionnaire and the Persian version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales - 21 (DASS-21). Data analysis was performed using IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA SPSS software version 23, applying descriptive statistics and inferential methods such as t-tests and Spearman correlation coefficients. RESULTS: The comparison of the average scores for anxiety and depression showed that pre-hospital emergency operational staff had significantly higher anxiety (P = 0.014) and depression (P = 0.004) compared to emergency nurses. The average stress score of pre-hospital emergency operational staff was higher than that of the nurses working in the emergency departments of the studied hospitals, but this difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression among pre-hospital emergency staff highlight their vulnerability to psychological harm. It is recommended that targeted psychological and educational interventions be implemented to address these issues, with a focus on pre-hospital emergency personnel.