Comparison of Psychological Stress Levels and Associated Factors Among Healthcare Workers, Frontline Workers, and the General Public During the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic

Weidan Pu,Rui Yang,Rongrong Luan,Lilei Dai,Peng Wang

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.583971

Weidan Pu, Rui Yang + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.583971

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Abstract

Objective: We aimed to conduct a comparative analysis of the psychological stress experienced by healthcare workers, frontline workers, and the general public and to assess the factors associated with psychological stress in each of these groups.Methods: We conducted an online survey targeting healthcare workers, frontline workers, and the general public. Psychological stress was assessed with the revised impact of event scale (IES-R). Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted.Results: We surveyed 1,336 participants (64.6% female; mean age, 36.6). The occupation group distribution of respondents was 50.7% healthcare workers, 27.2% frontline workers, and 22.1% general public. The healthcare (23.6 ± 15.8) and frontline (23.6 ± 17.8) workers had higher IES-R scores than the general public (15.3 ± 10.6; p < 0.01). Poor health perception and perception of infection avoidance were associated with psychological stress in the healthcare and frontline workers, but not in the general public.Conclusion: Both healthcare and frontline workers are suffering elevated psychological stress, compared to the general public, and this elevated stress may be related especially to their perceptions of their own health and infection risk. Interventions addressing these factors should be developed to alleviate psychological stress in these populations, and thus reduce their risk of mental illness pathogenesis.

Highlights

The global health threat produced by the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, an extraordinarily negative event, has resulted in substantial psychological stress for healthcare workers and frontline essential workers, as well as for the general public [1]
Our study revealed that healthcare and frontline workers experienced greater psychological stress than individuals in the general public
We found that higher psychological stress was associated with the following six factors: a high workload; poor sleep quality; poor health perception; low perception of infection avoidance; high Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) score; and high General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) score

Summary

Introduction

The global health threat produced by the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, an extraordinarily negative event, has resulted in substantial psychological stress for healthcare workers and frontline essential workers, as well as for the general public [1]. Compared to severe acute respiratory syndrome, COVID-19 has had a lower mortality rate but has proven to be much. The difficult to control transmission of COVID-19 is having severe economic impacts [3]. The psychological stress experienced by healthcare workers, frontline essential workers, and individuals in the general public varies depending on each individual’s particular situation, experiences, and the stresses that they face [4]. Healthcare and frontline workers may experience heightened anxiety and depression symptoms, and heightened psychological stress, consequent to a constant potential exposure to COVID19. Elucidation of the factors that are associated with psychological stress will allow governments and administrators to develop suitable interventions to manage psychological stress during this pandemic

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