Prevalence of Mental Health Problems in Frontline Healthcare Workers After the First Outbreak of COVID-19 in China: a Cross-sectional Study

Overview

Journal Health Qual Life Outcomes

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Public Health

Date 2021 Mar 23

PMID 33752686

Citations 31

Authors

Wen-Ping Guo

Qing Min

Wei-Wei Gu

Liang Yu

Xiao Xiao

Wei-Bing Yi

Hong-Liang Li

Bei Huang

Jun-Li Li

Ya-Jun Dai

Jian Xia

Jie Liu

Bei Li

Ben-Hong Zhou

Minglun Li

Hong-Xi Xu

Xuan-Bin Wang

Wen-Yuan Shi

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: More than 210,000 medical workers have fought against the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Hubei in China since December 2019. However, the prevalence of mental health problems in frontline medical staff after fighting COVID-19 is still unknown.

Methods: Medical workers in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei Province were invited to participate a cross-sectional and convenience sampling online survey, which assessed the prevalence of anxiety, insomnia, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Results: A total of 1,091 responses (33% male and 67% female) were valid for statistical analysis. The prevalence was anxiety 53%, insomnia 79%, depression 56%, and PTSD 11%. Healthcare workers in Wuhan were more likely to face risks of anxiety (56% vs. 52%, P = 0.03) and PTSD (15% vs. 9%, P = 0.03) than those in other cities of Hubei. In terms of educational attainment, those with doctoral and masters' (D/M) degrees may experience more anxiety (median of 7.0, [interquartile range (IQR) 2.0-8.5] vs. median 5.0 [IQR 5.0-8.0], P = 0.02) and PTSD (median 26.0 [IQR 19.5-33.0] vs. median 23.0 [IQR 19.0-31.0], P = 0.04) than those with lower educational degrees.

Conclusions: The mental problems were an important issue for the healthcare workers after COVID-19. Thus, an early intervention on such mental problems is necessary for healthcare workers.

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