Abstract
Background: The outbreak of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused public panic and psychological health problems, especially in medical staff. We aimed to investigate the psychological effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on medical staff.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the psychological impact of medical staff working in COVID-19 designated hospitals from February to March 2020 in China. We assessed psychological health problems using the Symptom Check List 90 (SCL-90).Results: Among 656 medical staff, 244 were frontline medical staff and 412 general medical staff. The prevalence of psychological health problems was 19.7%. The SCL-90 scores in frontline medical staff were significantly higher than that in general medical staff (mean: 141.22 vs. 129.54, P < 0.05). Furthermore, gender [odds ratio (OR) = 1.53, 95% CI = (1.02, 2.30), P = 0.042 for female vs. male] and the burden of current work [OR = 7.55, 95% CI = (3.75, 15.21), P < 0.001 for high burden; OR = 2.76, 95% CI = (1.80, 4.24), P < 0.001 for moderate burden vs. low burden] were associated with increased risk of poor psychological status.Conclusions: Medical staff experienced a high risk of psychological health problems during the outbreak of COVID-19, especially for frontline medical staff. Psychological health services are expected to arrange for medical staff in future unexpected infectious disease outbreaks.
Highlights
In 2019, the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic occurred in Wuhan, Hubei, China, and subsequently attracted worldwide attention [1]
Compared with general medical staff, frontline medical staff were more likely to be in Wuhan (75.0 vs. 33.5%), were more likely to work more than 5 days per week (41.0 vs. 36.7%), had a lower burden of their current medical work (7.4 vs. 4.9%), were less took a rest at home (32.4 vs. 92.7%), were fewer medical staff for their spouse (33.6 vs. 39.6%), have a higher proportion of confirmed or suspected patients in their relatives, friends or neighbors (34.0 vs. 21.4%)
When restricted to frontline medical staff, we found a significant association between the Symptom Check List 90 (SCL-90) scores and the burden of current work during the COVID-19 outbreak [β = 41.02, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = (31.23, 50.80), P < 0.001]
Summary
In 2019, the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic occurred in Wuhan, Hubei, China, and subsequently attracted worldwide attention [1]. Psychological Issues of Medical Staff (WHO) has declared the current COVID-19 outbreak as “a global public health emergency of international concern.”. Due to the rapid spread and high mortality of the disease, the COVID-19 epidemic caused considerable panic and anxiety worldwide. Medical staff is at high risk of psychological health problems when facing these unprecedented challenges. Due to a lack of adequate personal protective equipment in patient care areas, medical staff experienced a great risk of COVID-19 infection [3]. Their job puts them at increased risk of exposure to the COVID-19 epidemic. The outbreak of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused public panic and psychological health problems, especially in medical staff. We aimed to investigate the psychological effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on medical staff
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