Research on psychological stress and mental health of medical staff in COVID-19 prevention and control

ObjectiveHospital workplace violence is one of the most frequently reported types of workplace violence in the world, and it harms the mental and physical health of medical staff. Existing research on workplace violence focused more on cross-sectional studies, than longitudinal studies. Therefore, this study examined the dynamic impact of hospital workplace violence on the mental health of medical staff, with the aim of providing appropriate countermeasures and suggestions for hospitals to develop targeted psychological intervention measures in time for medical staff who experience workplace violence.DesignA prospective cohort study.ParticipantsA total of 112 medical staff who had experienced workplace violence in the hospital for the first time were chosen.SettingAn unconditional latent variable growth curve model was established based on the average value of the general health scale scores of medical staff, and gender and violence types (intimidation threats, physical violence) as control variables. Each medical staff was assessed for depression and anxiety at 4 different time points and the changes in the trajectories was observed.ResultsThere were significant differences in the incidence of mental health and anxiety among medical staff at different observation times. There were significant individual differences in the initial mental health status, growth rate of anxiety and depression of medical staff.ConclusionsHospitals should undertake various psychological intervention strategies based on the staff's mental health to safeguard those who have experienced workplace violence.

The pooled prevalence of the mental problems of Chinese medical staff during the COVID-19 outbreak: A meta-analysis

The physical and mental health of the medical staff in Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital during COVID-19 epidemic: A Structural Equation Modeling approach

Mental Health Status of Medical Staff in Emergency Departments During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Epidemic in China

Mental health status of medical staff in emergency departments during the Coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic in China

IntroductionThe highly infectious novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged in Wuhan, China in late 2019 and soon became a global pandemic. COVID-19 is escalating medical staff psychological stress and creating an increasingly heavy professional burden. Fear of transmitting the virus to family, community perception of frontline workers as potential disease carriers, extreme workloads and moral dilemmas add additional stressors. In Novi Sad Clinical Centre of Vojvodina (CCV) for the past 2 years there has been a continuous struggle against the COVID-19 crisis. Both senior specialist doctors and newly hired young doctors, some without work experience, were hired immediately after completing their studies.ObjectivesTo investigate the mental health of clinical first-line medical staff in COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study involving CCV staff who worked in the first line of patient treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were given a self-administered questionnaire which included information on demographic and socio-economic characteristics and the validated Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-21) and the Impact of Events Scale–Revised (IES-R) instrument. A total of 190 medical workers were involved.ResultsSixty-two (32,6%) participants screened positive for anxiety, 38 (20%) for depression, 68 (35,8%) for stress, and 22 (11,5%) for clinical concern of PTSD. The most endangered are young nurses and doctors with less than 6 months of previous work experience.ConclusionsIn conclusion, our results suggest frontline medical staff involved in treatment of COVID-19 patients should be closely monitored as a high-risk group for depression and anxiety, and given proper training before deployment.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

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

Background and Objectives: The highly infectious novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged in Wuhan, China in late 2019 and soon became a global pandemic. COVID-19 is escalating medical staff psychological. In Novi Sad Clinical Centre of Vojvodina (CCV) for the past 2 years there has been a continuous struggle against the COVID-19 crisis. Both senior specialist doctors and newly hired young doctors, some without work experience, were hired immediately after completing their studies. Aim: To investigate the mental health of clinical first-line medical staff in COVID-19 epidemic. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study involving CCV staff who worked in the first line of patient treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were given a self- administered questionnaire which included information on demographic and socio- economic characteristics and the validated DASS-21 and IES-R scale instrument. A total of 200 medical workers were involved. Results: Twenty-eight (14%) participants screened positive for depression, 49 (24,5%) for anxiety, 66 (33%) for stress, and 22 (11%) for clinical concern of PTSD. The most endangered are young nurses and doctors with less than 6 months of previous work experience. Conclusion: In conclusion, our results suggest frontline medical staff involved in treatment of COVID-19 patients should be closely monitored as a high-risk group for depression and anxiety, and given proper training before deployment.

To explore the psychological status of medical staff in the epidemic period of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and to analyze its influential factors. A total of 373 medical staff from Xiangya Hospital and the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University were enrolled for this study. The General Sociological Data Questionnaire, Symptom Check-List 90 (SCL-90), and self-designed public opinion response questionnaire were used to assess general sociological data, mental health scores, and ability to respond to COVID-19 related public opinion information of medical staff. The mental health scores of medical staff with different general sociological data and public opinion information coping abilities were compared. Influential factors of mental health were analyzed. The average score of 10 factors in SCL-90 of 373 medical staff was less than 2 points. 14.21% medical staff had one or more factor scores more than two points, including 11.26% with terror symptoms, 7.77% with compulsive symptoms, and 5.63% with anxiety. The main sources of COVID-19 information for medical staff included WeChat, microblog, Jinri toutiao, TV and radio. 66.22% medical staff regularly verified information about COVID-19 through official websites or formal channels. A great deal of COVID-19 information in WeChat could make medical staff nervous (34.05%), anxious (30.29%), and insecure (29.22%). 68.63% medical staff sometimes were worried about getting infected because they knew information about COVID-19. Different departments of medical staff, getting cough or having a fever recently, and the degree of fear of infection had an impact on the SCL-90 score of medical staff, the differences were all statistically significant (all P<0.05). Stepwise regression analysis showed that the impact of COVID-19 information on their life in WeChat, getting cough or having a fever recently, insomnia-early caused by COVID-19 information in WeChat, different departments, and the degree of fear of infection COVID-19 were the influential factors for the mental health of medical staff (all P<0.05). During the epidemic of COVID-19, medical staff suffered from psychological problems to various degrees. It is necessary to establish a psychological assistance platform and guide the direction of public opinion correctly to promote the mental health of medical staff.

Objective: To explore the psychological status of medical staff during COVID-19 epidemic, so as to provide reference and scientific basis for carrying out further psychological intervention and ensuring the mental health of medical staff. Methods: By using convenient sampling method and the Stresss-Anxiety ubscale of Depression Anxiety Stress (DASS-21) , the mental health status of 615 medical staff was investigated by the way of questionnaire star from February 4 to 16, 2020. A total of 615 questionnaires were distributed and collected, and 615 were valid, with an effective recovery rate of 100%. Results: The detection rates of psychological stress and anxiety of medical staff were 13.82% (85/615) and 25.37% (156/615) , respectively. 31-40 years old and working in key departments were risk factors for psychological stress of medical staff (OR=1.779, 2.127) ; Women, frequently washing hands with soap/hand sanitizer/disinfectant were protective factors for psychological stress (OR=0.520, 0.528) . Medical staff working in designated hospitals and key departments were more likely to have anxiety (OR=2.042, 2.702) ; The high fit of the mask to the face and bridge of the nose was a protective factor for the psychological anxiety of medical staff (OR=0.500) . Conclusion: Medical staff show higher stress and anxiety during the epidemic of COVID-19. Psychological intervention should be carried out early, focusing on men, age 31 to 40, medical staff working in designated hospitals and key departments.

The influence of changes in the Chinese COVID-19 prevention and control policies on mental health of medical staff: A network analysis

Physical environments can negatively influence occupants’ mental health or positively contribute to occupants’ mental health. In hospitals, research on the relationship between mental health and the physical environment is crucial. However, many review papers have focused on the impact of the physical environment on patients. Despite the significant influence of the medical staff's mental health on overall healthcare service quality, there is a lack of reviews concentrating on the relationship between the medical staff and the physical environment. Therefore, this review aims to address this gap by providing a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between the physical environment and the mental health of medical staff, encompassing both negative and positive aspects. This review introduces six indicators of medical staff mental health, categorizing stress, fatigue and burnout as negative aspects and well-being, satisfaction and productivity as positive aspects. Productivity has been newly added to emphasize the importance of safe patient care and a healthy workplace. The results demonstrate that certain physical environments (e.g. layout, furniture and staff space) could affect patients and medical staff differently and that the effects on medical staff could also vary depending on their roles and the specific situations they face.

Since 8 January 2023 China has liberalized its control of COVID-19. In a short period of time, the infection rate of COVID-19 in China has risen rapidly, which has brought a heavy burden to medical staff. This study aimed to investigate the psychological status, stress, insomnia, effort-reward imbalance, resilience, and influencing factors of medical staff in China during the period of epidemic policy liberalization. This survey was conducted from 6 February to 27 March 2023 with non-random sampling. An online questionnaire survey was conducted using HADS, PSS-14, ISI, ERI, and the resilience assessment scale for medical staff. The levels of psychological, stress, insomnia, effort-reward imbalance, and resilience of medical staff during the pandemic policy opening period were measured. A total of 2,038 valid questionnaires were collected. 68.5% and 53.9% of medical staff had different degrees of anxiety and depression, respectively. Excessive stress, insomnia, and high effort and low reward were 40.2%, 43.2%, and 14.2%, respectively. Gender, Profession, education level, and age are important factors that lead to anxiety and depression. Women, nurses, higher education, longer working years and hours, high effort, and low reward are risk factors for the above conditions. There was a certain correlation among the five scales, among which anxiety, depression, stress, insomnia, effort-reward imbalance, and other factors were positively correlated, while resilience was negatively correlated with these factors. This study found that anxiety, depression, stress, insomnia, and other psychological problems of medical staff in China during the policy opening period of COVID-19 were more serious than before. At the individual and organizational levels, it is necessary to improve the well-being of medical staff, optimize the allocation of human resources, and promote the mental health of medical staff with a focus on prevention and mitigation, with the entry point of improving resilience and preventing the effort-reward imbalance.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has progressively impacted our daily lives, resulting in unexpected physical and mental stress on medical staff. This study is designed to investigate the levels of and risk factors for burnout, depression, anxiety, and insomnia among medical staff during the COVID-19 epidemic breakout in Shanghai, China. This cross-sectional survey was conducted from May 1 to May 31, 2022, among medical staff who were on the frontline during the epidemic breakout in Shanghai from different institutions. The MBI-HSS was used to assess burnout, PHQ-9, GAD-7 and ISI were used to evaluate mental status and insomnia. A total of 543 valid questionnaires were collected. The depersonalization, depression, anxiety, and insomnia scores of medical staff were significantly higher during the pandemic in Shanghai compared with norms, while lack of personal achievement scores were decreased. Working time, work unit, work environment and age are important influencers of burnout, depression and anxiety of medical staff. Long working hours are the most likely causes of burnout and emotional disorders. Medical staff in primary hospitals were most likely to suffer from burnout and emotional disorders, while medical staff in tertiary hospitals had a reduced sense of personal achievement. Young medical staff are prone to negative emotions such as depression and anxiety, while older medical staff have a lower sense of personal accomplishment. Medical staff who were not in the shelter hospitals or designated hospitals were more likely to have problems of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and anxiety than those who were in the shelter hospitals or designated hospitals. Contracting COVID-19 had no effect on medical staff. Emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were positively correlated with anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders while personal achievement was negatively correlated with these factors. Medical staff in Shanghai had high burnout, depression, anxiety and insomnia levels during the epidemic outbreak in Shanghai. During the COVID-19, medical staff may suffer different psychological problems which should be concerned. Care and supports about burnout, mental health and insomnia need to be taken to promote the mental health of medical staff according to different characteristics of medical staff.

This study aimed to quantify the prevalence of the adverse mental health outcomes in medical staff working in the hospital settings during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and explore the relative distribution of anxiety and depressive symptoms. PubMed, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WANFANG DATA, and VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals were searched for articles published from January 1, 2019, to April 19, 2020. The prevalence estimates of adverse mental health symptoms in medical staff were pooled using the random-effects model. A total of 35 articles and data of 25,343 medical staff were used in the final analysis. The pooled prevalence estimates in medical staff during the COVID-19 pandemic were as follows (ordered from high to low): fear-related symptoms, 67% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 61%-73%); high levels of perceived stress, 56% (95% CI = 32%-79%), anxiety symptoms, 41% (95% CI = 35%-47%); insomnia, 41% (95% CI = 33%-50%); posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, 38% (95% CI = 34%-43%); depressive symptoms, 27% (95% CI = 20%-34%); and somatic symptoms, 16% (95% CI = 3%-36%). The subgroup analysis revealed that the prevalence estimates of fear-related symptoms were consistently high. Medical staff during the COVID-19 epidemic have a high prevalence of adverse mental health symptoms. Data-based strategies are needed to optimize mental health of medical staff and other health care professionals during times of high demand such as the COVID-19 and other epidemics.PROSPERO Registration: CRD42020182433.