Mental Health of Front-Line Chinese Medical Staff During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected over 100 countries thus far. The increasing number of patients might lead to enormous changes in psychological status of medical staff. Aims: The aim of this study was to understand the psychological status of medical staff during the COVID-19 outbreak. Method: Medical staff working in hospitals in Wuhan and the Yangtze River Delta were invited to complete an online questionnaire, which was composed of basic demographic data, the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) for sleep disturbances, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) for anxiety, and the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) for depressive symptoms. Results: Among the 1225 invited medical staff, 686 participants (64 males, 9.33% and 622 females, 90.67%; average age 33.13±7.82 years) responded to the survey (response rate was 56.00%). 482 (67.35%) respondents reported sleep disturbances, 224 (32.65%) reported anxiety and 204 (29.74%) reported depressive symptoms. Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that occupation (doctor), department (respiratory, ICU), workplace (areas in Wuhan), marital status (married), and medical history (anxiety, depression or sleep disorders) were significantly correlated with AIS, GAD-7 and SDS scores (PConclusions: COVID-19 imposes a significant burden on mental health of medical staff. Gender, marital status, occupation, department, workplace and a specific medical history were major influencing factors for sleep disorders, anxiety and depressive symptoms among these front-line medical staff. More attention needs to be paid to the psychological care of medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.Funding Statement: None.Declaration of Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Ethics Approval Statement: The ethics committee of Shanghai General Hospital approved this study, under the principles of voluntary participation, anonymity and strict confidentiality. When participants chose to complete the survey, their consent was presumed.