Mental Health Burden in Different Professions During the Final Stage of the COVID-19 Lockdown in China: Cross-sectional Survey Study.
COVID-19 resulted in considerable mental health burden in the Chinese general population and among health care workers at the beginning and peak of the pandemic. However, little is known about potentially vulnerable groups during the final stage of the lockdown.
The aim of this survey study was to assess the mental health burden of different professions in China in order to find vulnerable groups, possible influencing factors, and successful ways of coping during the last 4 weeks of the lockdown in Hubei Province.
A cross-sectional online survey asked participants about current residence, daily working hours, exposure to COVID-19 at work, and media preferences. We used a shortened version of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) to assess mental health. Further assessments included perceived stress (Simplified Chinese version of the 14-item Perceived Stress Scale), coping strategies for all participants, and specific stressors for health care workers. We followed the reporting guidelines of the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) statement for observational studies.
The sample (N=687) consisted of 158 doctors, 221 nurses, 24 other medical staff, 43 students, 60 teachers/government staff, 135 economy staff, 26 workers/farmers, and 20 professions designated under the "other" category. We found increased depression (n=123, 17.9%), anxiety (n=208, 30.3%), and stress (n=94, 13.7%) in our sample. Professions that were vulnerable to depression were other medical staff and students. Doctors, nurses, and students were vulnerable to anxiety; and other medical staff, students, and economy staff were vulnerable to stress. Coping strategies were reduced to three factors: active, mental, and emotional. Being female and emotional coping were independently associated with depression, anxiety, or stress. Applying active coping strategies showed lower odds for anxiety while mental coping strategies showed lower odds for depression, anxiety, and stress. Age, being inside a lockdown area, exposure to COVID-19 at work, and having a high workload (8-12 hours per day) were not associated with depression, anxiety, or stress. WeChat was the preferred way of staying informed across all groups.
By the end of the lockdown, a considerable part of the Chinese population showed increased levels of depression and anxiety. Students and other medical staff were the most affected, while economy staff were highly stressed. Doctors and nurses need support regarding potential anxiety disorders. Future work should focus on longitudinal results of the pandemic and develop targeted preventive measures.
Du J
，Mayer G
，Hummel S
，Oetjen N
，Gronewold N
，Zafar A
，Schultz JH
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《JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INTERNET RESEARCH》
Anxiety and Depression of Nurses in a North West Province in China During the Period of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Outbreak.
To investigate the anxiety and depression levels of frontline clinical nurses working in 14 hospitals in Gansu Province, China, during this period.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted online between February 7 and 10, 2020, with a convenience sample of 22,034 nurses working in 14 prefecture and city hospitals in Gansu Province, located in northwest China.
A self-reported questionnaire with four parts (demographic characteristics, general questions related to novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia, self-rating anxiety scale, and self-rating depression scale) was administered. Descriptive statistics including frequencies, means, and SDs were computed. The associations between anxiety and depression with sociodemographic characteristics, work-related concerns, and impacts were analyzed, followed by multiple stepwise linear regression to identify factors that best predicted the nurses' anxiety and depression levels.
A total of 21,199 questionnaires were checked to be valid, with an effective recovery rate of 96.21%. The mean ± SD age of the respondents was 31.89 ± 7.084 years, and the mean ± SD length of service was 9.40 ± 7.638 years. The majority of the respondents were female (98.6%) and married (73.1%). Some demographic characteristics, related concerns, and impacts of COVID-19 were found to be significantly associated with both anxiety (p < .001) and depression (p < .001). Nurses who needed to take care of children or elderly relatives, took leave from work because they were worried about COVID-19, avoided contact with family and friends, and wanted to obtain more COVID-19-related knowledge had higher levels of both anxiety and depression.
Results show that nurses faced with the COVID-19 outbreak are at risk for experiencing anxiety and depression. Demographic background, psychosocial factors, and work-related factors predicted the psychological responses. The family responsibilities and burdens of women may explain the higher levels of anxiety and depression among nurses with these obligations as compared to those without. On the other hand, nurses who chose not to take leave from work or who did not avoid going to work during this period were less anxious and depressed.
Professional commitment might be a protective factor for adverse psychological responses. It is pertinent to provide emotional support for nurses and recognize their professional commitment in providing service to people in need.
Han L
，Wong FKY
，She DLM
，Li SY
，Yang YF
，Jiang MY
，Ruan Y
，Su Q
，Ma Y
，Chung LYF
... -
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