METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary teaching hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sociodemographic data questionnaire, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale 21, sources of workplace worries questionnaire, and Brief-COPE inventory were randomly distributed to frontline HCWs who worked at the medical, emergency, and anaesthesiology departments. Data were analyzed using Chi-square tests and multivariable linear regression analysis.

RESULTS: A total of 137 frontline HCWs responded to the questionnaires. The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress was 69.3%, 77.4%, and 57.7%, respectively. None of the sociodemographic characteristics was associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. Depression was associated to all sources of workplace worries, except "fear of getting infected" (p = 0.089), while anxiety and stress were associated with all sources of workplace worries. Humour (β = 0.821), self-blame (β = 0.686), denial (β = 0.676), substance use (β = 0.835), and behavioural disengagement (β = 0.583) were positively correlated to depression. However, active coping (β = -0.648) and acceptance (β = -0.602) were negatively correlated to depression. On the other hand, active coping (β = 0.913), planning (β = 0.879), acceptance (β = 0.831), religion (β = 0.704), and self-distraction (β = 0.929) were positively correlated to stress. Only substance use (β = -0.417) was negatively correlated to stress. All coping strategies did not correlate to anxiety.