Experience of Tunisian doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic: Management challenges and lessons learned

Abstract

Background

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tunisian doctors were faced with unprecedented challenges and had to work in hospitals under strain to meet the health requirements.

Objectives

The objectives of this study were to assess the experience of Tunisian doctors during the pandemic and to analyze the difficulties encountered and the factors that helped them to adapt to this situation.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional, comparative, multicenter, descriptive study over a seven-month period from June 1 to December 31, 2022. We included physicians who had worked in COVID-19 services. For data collection, we used a questionnaire developed on ‘Google Forms’ and distributed mainly by e-mail.

Results

The number of participants included was 381, with a predominance of women (74%). The average age was 35.6 ± 9 years old. Thirty-seven percent of doctors felt that managing the pandemic was difficult. The three most common difficulties encountered were psychological impact (75.1%), compliance with confinement (68.2%) and case notification on the platform (54.7%). The main protective factors were scientific information on the disease (91.9%), family support (90.6%) and support from colleagues (84%). In multivariate analysis, the factors significantly associated with the difficult management of the pandemic were the number of personal infections with SARS-CoV-2 (p = 0.03), the occurrence of deaths in the family circle (p = 0.009), and work in hospitalization units for patients with COVID-19 (p = 0.039).

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on doctors’ personal and professional lives, with psychological challenges and institutional demands being the most prominent difficulties. Protective factors such as access to scientific information, family support, and collegial solidarity played a crucial role in helping doctors adapt to this unprecedented situation.