Abstract
BackgroundMore 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.MethodsMedical 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).ResultsA 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.ConclusionsThe 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.
Highlights
More than 210,000 medical workers have fought against the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Hubei in China since December 2019
The mental problems were an important issue for the healthcare workers after COVID-19
An early intervention on such mental problems is necessary for healthcare workers
Summary
More than 210,000 medical workers have fought against the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Hubei in China since December 2019. The extreme exposure due to their profession, a great number of cases, dying patients, shortage of personal protection equipment, having to put on heavy isolation suits as well as the lack of effective drugs and treatment strategies has put all medical staff at a high risk of infection and even death. They were overworked and had to reduce contact with their families [6,7,8]. In this study, we launched an online survey on mental health of medical workers fighting COVID-19 in Wuhan and other cities of Hubei, aiming to provide basic data for intervention with regards to medical workers’ mental health
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