Depression in the Emergency Department During COVID-19: A National Cross-Sectional Survey in China

Abstract

Background: Chinese emergency medical staff have great mental and work pressure in fighting the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and it is necessary to understand the prevalenece and influencing factors for depression. Methods: A cross-sectional national survey of general emergency medical staff who were on duty and participated in COVID-19 anti-pandemic from November 2019 to April 2020 was conducted and we used the scale of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) to assess depression symptom. Univariate analysis and multivariable logistic-regression models assessed for the associations of influencing PHQ-9 scores. Results: 6588 emergncy medical staff from 1060 hospitals responded to the survey. The average PHQ-9 score of all medical staff was 10.94±5.1. We use PHQ-9≥10 as the cut-off value to define major depression, the prevalence of major depression was 57.60%.The results of univariate analysis showed that demographic factors (gender, age, occupation, relationship status, living with childen ≤16 years-old or adults≥70 years- old), work factors (direct contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients or working in an isolation unit with COVID-19 patients), and forced isolation in the hospital all had an increased risk of major depression. In addition, multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that main factors associated with major depression symptom were direct contact with confirmed COVID-19 patient (OR 1.153), working in a COVID-19 isolation ward (OR 1.366), age between 31-45 years old (OR 1.139), and living with children ≤16 years old (OR 1.126) or adults≥70 years old (OR 1.325). Working in Hubei province (the epicenter of the outbreak) during COVID-19 had no correlation with depression. Conclusion: Chinese emergency medical staff experienced depression burden during COVID-19 period, particularly, those aged 31-45,those working in isolation unit COVID-19, those living with children or older people These results reinforce the value of effective, targeted staff support during the COVID-19 or future outbreaks. Funding Statement: None. Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: The study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and all the participants provided informed consent.