Healthcare workers who treat COVID-19 patients were mandated to use PPE to protect themselves. Personal Protective Equipment causes some difficulties and discomfort as well as some side effects, such as headache.  Personal Protective Equipment associated headache  might be caused by some pathomechanisms, such as mechanic factor, hypercarbia, and stress. Anxiety and depression are thought to trigger or exacerbate PPE-associated headache.

This was a descriptive analytic study with cross-sectional method conducted in June  2021. We involved healthcare workers in Haji Adam Malik General Hospital, a referral centre for COVID-19 in North Sumatera, Indonesia.  Personal Protective Equipment associated headache was assesed with The International Classification of Headache Disorder, 3^rd Edition  (ICHD-3) criteria for external compression headache. Depression was screened with Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9).  Anxiety was screened with Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale.

Anxiety and depression were not associated with PPE-associated headache in COVID-19 healthcare workers. These results suggest that another pathomechanisms have bigger influence in PPE-associated headache.