Abstract
Chinese emergency department (ED) staff encountered significant mental stress while fighting the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We sought to investigate the prevalence and associated factors for depressive symptoms among ED staff (including physicians, nurses, allied health, and auxiliary ED staff). A cross-sectional national survey of ED staff who were on duty and participated in combating the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted March 1–15, 2020. A total of 6,588 emergency medical personnel from 1,060 hospitals responded to this survey. A majority of respondents scored above 10 points on the PHQ-9 standardized test, which is associated with depressive symptoms. Those aged 31–45, those working in the COVID-19 isolation unit, and those with relatives ≤ 16 or ≥70 years old at home all had statistically significant associations with scoring >10 points. Depressive symptoms among Chinese emergency medical staff were likely quite common during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and reinforce the importance of targeted ED staff support during future outbreaks.
Highlights
At the end of December 2019, a new respiratory infection outbreak, later termed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was first reported in Wuhan, China [1]
Since most emergency departments (EDs) staff on clinical duty in China during this period participated in fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic work, a concurrent control group of ED staff who did not participate in the fight against the pandemic was not feasible
56.70% of participants had children ≤16 years old at home who needed care, while 31.21% of participants lived with elderly family members ≥70 years old
Summary
At the end of December 2019, a new respiratory infection outbreak, later termed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was first reported in Wuhan, China [1]. COVID19 has continued to rampage throughout the world. Among a variety of control options, social distancing was recommended by the WHO to reduce the possibility of infection [3]. Medical staff, those on the frontlines of healthcare in emergency departments (EDs), have taken the brunt of the effort in the fight against COVID-19. They are unable to follow recommendations on social distancing and must work in areas that are high risk for COVID-19. According to data from the National Health Council of China, as of April 1, 2021, thousands of medical staff have been infected and many have died [4]. ED staff are exposed to a higher risk of infection and suffer the physical and mental strain of tiring work schedules, difficult triage decisions, fears of infecting family members, and the anguish of losing patients and colleagues to COVID-19 [5]
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