Psychological Status in the First-Line Medical Staff Fighting Against COVID-19 in Sichuan (Low-Risk Regions): A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: The outbreak of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the world has brought great challenges to Medical system. Medical Staff are facing nonnegligible psychological pressure. The psychological status of medical staff in high-risk regions is widely concerned, but there are few studies in low-risk regions. The study focuses on the psychological status of medical staff and influencing factor during COVID-19 epidemic in low-risk regions. Methods: An online questionnaire survey was conducted for 839 medical staff of several hospitals in Sichuan Province from Feb.4 2020 to Feb.25 2020. The questionnaires include self designed questionnaire, Symptom Checklist 90(SCL-90), Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ) and social Support Rating Scale (SSRS). We did single factor analysis on various factors first, then doing multi factor analysis to get the influencing factors of abnormal psychological status. Results: Out of the first-line medical staff who participated in the survey, 149(17.8%) screened abnormal psychological status, (15.3%) for physical discomfort, (14.5%) for depression, (12.2%) for fear and (16.9%) for hostility such as irritation, fatigued, etc. Participants who had insomnia, contact history of COVID-19 patients, negative coping style, low social support were more likely to be psychological abnormality. After adjusting for gender, age and education, it was found that insomnia (OR 4.58, 95% CI 3.06–6.87, p = 0.000), negative coping style (OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.08–1.20, p = 0.000), are risk factors of abnormal psychological status. Meanwhile, positive coping style (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.90–0.97, p = 0.000), good subjective support (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.74–0.96, p = 0.014) and high utilization of support (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.76–0.97, p = 0.015) are protective factors of psychological status in the first-line medical staff. Conclusions: The first-line anti-epidemic medical staffs in low-risk regions have high rate of abnormal psychological status, especially those with insomnia, low social support and negative coping style. Governments and local health authorities should take timely intervention measures to alleviate symptoms and provide psychological support. Supported by the Project of Science and Technology Department of Sichuan Province (2020ZYD013).