Study Design
A descriptive correlational study design was used in this research.
Research Setting and Population Setting
The research was carried out in 11 specifically chosen PhilHealth locations in the NCR, a government organization that offers healthcare and other services and depends on in-person interactions to carry out its duties. The populace size consisted of all workers of the government who worked in these government agencies.
Participants or Respondents
During the COVID-19 epidemic, government workers whose jobs require in- person interactions with customers and deals were put on a distant work schedule.
Inclusion Criteria
a. 20 to 60 years old, male or female
b. Government employee with the following:
1. work relies on face-to-face transactions and services 2. placed on remote work arrangement during COVID-19
pandemic
c. Participants who have stable internet connectivity with a minimum internet speed of 2mbps
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Exclusion Criteria
a. non-government employee
b. Government employees whose government function does not rely on face- to-face transactions and services.
c. Government employees that are not on remote work arrangement during the COVID-19 pandemic.
d. Persons who have any conditions which may affect their ability to
complete an online survey (not computer-literate, have difficulty in focusing or seeing the computer screen, with vision problems)
e. Participants that did not sign an informed consent
Study Population, Sampling Method and Sample Size
The research group was comprised of government workers from 11 chosen PhilHealth locations in NCR, whose role depends on face-to-face interactions and services and who were on a distant work plan during the COVID-19 epidemic. As the population number, 257 PhilHealth NCR workers were taken into account.
Additionally, this was the overall staffing count for all 11 chosen PhilHealth locations in the NCR.
Proportionate Stratified Random Sampling was the sampling method for the study, wherein the sample size for each stratum was proportionate to the population size of the strata when examined across the entire population.
n = N / (1+Ne2)
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Where,
n= required sample size
N= population size which is 257
e= margin of error which is presumed at 5% as the corresponding level of confidence will be at 95 percent.
1= constant
Therefore, n= 257 / (1 + (257) (0.05)2) = 157
Adding 10% non-response rate which corresponds to 16, the final resulting sample size is 173.
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Table 3.1
Proportional Distribution of Sample Size
Office No. Population Percentage Sample
1 33 12.8% 22
2 6 2.3% 4
3 30 11.7% 20
4 27 10.5% 18
5 26 10.1% 18
6 22 8.6% 15
7 11 4.3% 7
8 37 14.4% 25
9 36 14.0% 24
10 12 4.7% 8
11 17 6.6% 11
257 100% 173
Procedures and Measures Recruitment Process
Requests like the letter requesting permission to perform an online poll and the list of prospective respondents with their email addresses were sent to PhilHealth Regional Office NCR after receiving the National Ethics Committee's blessing. The memo outlined the purpose, significance, and potential advantages of the research for the office and its staff. Additionally, it listed the requirements for potential research volunteers. The scholar and the university entered a non-disclosure agreement.
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before revealing the study procedure and other confidential papers, giving access to and using private data of prospective study subjects, and more. (NDA). As a legally enforceable arrangement that prohibits the sharing of private or secret information to other outside parties, especially those who are not engaged in the study, the NDA safeguards the information that one or more parties may disclose. Following acceptance of the request, the names of the participants were chosen at random along with their email addresses and added to a Google contact list for the purpose of sending offers to the survey, obtaining electronic informed consent, and providing survey links. The researcher did not keep personal information like the identities of the subjects in order to maintain privacy and security and to comply with the Data Privacy Act. The only distinguishing details kept in the database were the person's job position and the office to which they belong. Names and email addresses were only collected for the dissemination of poll URLs and full permission. On the researcher's request, participants may view the study results. Using Google cloud services, all of the research's data are kept in a computerized version that is password-protected. All data kept in the Google Cloud is AES256-encrypted at the storage level.
Data Collection
A self-administered cross-sectional organized internet poll form was used.
Google Forms provided internet access to the surveys. The survey URL, survey request, and computerized informed permission were sent to the recipients via email along with recurring notifications. To allow participants enough time to complete the poll, the link remained active for six weeks. Participants have the opportunity to revise and alter their answers at any time during the poll, even after hitting the
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submit option. The connection to the poll became inoperable after six weeks. Every answer was saved in the Google Cloud, which can only be accessed by logging in with a Google account. As real and legitimate study data, only poll answers from individuals on the formal list with their corresponding email addresses supplied by the institution were approved. Email addresses not on the institution's supplied roster were not permitted to be used to send survey forms. By the conclusion of the survey time, survey papers that were partially filled out or unfinished were removed from the research and deemed abandoned.
Instrumentation
A self-report questionnaire was the instrument for this research and was self- administered in an online survey. The online survey covered four parts:
Part I: Socio-demographic background of the respondents
Part II: Questionnaire related to stress using the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10).
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) is a well-known stress evaluation instrument that measures how much one views certain circumstances in their life as difficult. (Cohen, 1994). The 10-item survey's emphasis is on the respondent's sentiments and ideas from the previous month.
Instead of using the time specified in the initial questionnaire, the researcher used a particular situation to emphasize the exact instant of data collection.
Thescholar chose to use "on the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic" rather than "in the past month." In addition, during the ethics approval, the committee recommended validating the questionnaires by an expert to determine if they could be utilized in the Philippine settings.
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The researcher complied, and upon validation, some wording in questions nos. 4 and 7 were modified, while question no. 5 was rejected. Hence, individual scores on the PSS-10 only ranged from 0 to 36 instead of 0-40, remaining to be higher scores indicating higher perceived stress. (See Annex 2)
Table 3.2
Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) Score Interpretation 0-13 Low Stress 14-26 Moderate Stress 27-36 High Perceived Stress
Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a valid standard scale frequently used to measure and interpret the stress level of any given population.
A selection of 12 earlier studies was examined and assessed as part of the comprehensive evaluation of the PSS-10's psychological data. In 11 out of 12 papers evaluated with test-retest reliability evaluations, the PSS-10's psychometric characteristics produced internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha values of
>0.70 and reached the threshold of >0.70 in all instances. (Lee, 2012).
Part III: Questionnaire related to anxiety using GAD-7.
A seven-item assessment instrument called the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7) is used to assess the intensity of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). (Spitzer et al., 2006). Particularly in an ambulatory environment, this
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instrument is frequently used for quick individual assessment for the existence of a clinically relevant anxiety condition.
The respondent is prompted to evaluate the intensity of each of their symptoms over the preceding two weeks in each query. Instead of using the time specified in the initial questionnaire, the researcher used a particular situation to emphasize the exact instant of data collection. The scholar used the sentence "In the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic" in place of "in the last two weeks." The seven products' combined GAD-7 scores varied from 0 to 21.
Table 3.3
General Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7) Score Interpretation
0-5 None to Low-Risk
6-10 Mild
11-15 Moderate
16-21 Severe
One of the most popular medical self-report measures for determining the intensity of anxiety disorders is the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7). (Lowe et al., 2008). Internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha values varying from 0.79 to 0.91 and a Test-Retest Reliability of 0.87 were achieved during the validation and normalization of GAD-7 in the general population. (Lowe et al.,, 2008).
The researcher pilot-tested the surveys with respondents who shared the same traits as the study's real respondents but were not a part of the sample group in order to verify the PSS-10 Scale and GAD-7 for use in this study. The ethics
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council also suggested having a professional validate the surveys to see if they could be used in the Philippine context. Following the researcher's compliance, questions 4 and 7 were validated and changed in accordance with suggestions, while question 5 was refused. As a result, instead of 0-40, the PSS-10 only provided a range of 0 to 36, with greater results suggesting increased felt stress. (See Annex 2)
Data Analysis and Management
Data collected were reviewed and verified for completeness and accuracy.
The results of the data were analyzed and interpreted using descriptive statistics.
For problem statements 1-3, the researcher computed the frequency, percentage mean, and standard deviation.
For problem statements 4 and 5, the researcher used the Chi-Square Test.
The Chi-Square Test of Independence determines whether there is an association between categorical variables.
Where,
= Chi-Squared
= is the observed value
= is the expected value
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Table 4
Ethical Consideration
This study plan was approved by the National Ethics Committee (NEC) after receiving legal authorization. Before taking part, each individual provided a computerized full permission. The goals, purposes, history of the research, and length of the study were all included in the informed assent. The process of collecting data, which begins with gaining permission from the involved government body and compiling a roster of potential interviewees who will take part in the research, is also covered here. After that, volunteers were chosen at random. The email names of participants were added to a gmail contact list and used for survey requests, computerized informed consent, and dissemination of survey URLs.
Lastly, selecting the accept option on the computerized written assent acted as the permission of the participants to engage in the research. Only those who agreed to join and hit the accept option on the computerized written consent form were included in the survey group. All computerized permission documents were recorded using an electronic data capture prior to the original answer. Participants were free to leave the research whenever they wanted, without suffering any consequences.The researcher did not keep personal information like the identities
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of the subjects in order to maintain privacy and security and to comply with the Data Privacy Act. The only information that could be used to identify an individual was the workplace they work in and their job position. Names and email addresses were only collected in order to distribute the poll link and obtain informed permission. On the researcher's request, participants had access to the study results. Using Google cloud services, all of the research's data are kept in a computerized version that is password-protected. All data kept in the Google Cloud is AES256-encrypted at the storage level. Although there was no direct financial or in-kind advantage to the interviewees from participating in this study, the researcher expects that society will benefit from the study's results because they may make significant improvements to the lives and wellbeing of its citizens. Other than potential mental discomforts that the subjects may have felt when responding to delicate or confidential survey questions, there were no known dangers associated with taking part in the research.The data and resources will be kept by the scholar for at least ten years after the study is finished. The study will be disposed of if the data or documents are no longer required. After being subjected to media cleaning, the electronic data will be permanently deleted from all sources of electronic data. Data will be completely deleted.The general public will have access to the research report, particularly the research results, through publishing and replication in print, electronic, or digital forms online.
Chapter IV
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
One hundred sixty three respondents 94.2% of the intended sample size of 173 completed the online poll, compared to 10 (5.8%) who declined to join. The findings display, analysis, and data explanation from the online poll were all addressed in this chapter. The results are presented in four sections: findings related to respondents' sociodemographic traits, findings from the PSS-10 Scale, findings from the GAD-7 Assessment Tool, and findings from the hypothesis testing and analysis.