Abstract
Background: The purpose of our study was to investigate the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms and their risk factors among doctors during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.Methods: A hospital-based survey study was conducted. Anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS). Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyze anxiety and depressive symptoms across independent variables.Results: A total of 1,521 doctors were included; 11.11% (169/1,521) of the doctors had anxiety symptoms, and 16.90% (257/1,521) had depressive symptoms. Female sex [adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 1.69; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.21–2.34; P = 0.002] and having a minor child (aOR, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.50–3.56; P < 0.001) were associated with an increased risk of anxiety symptoms. Female sex (aOR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.18–2.06; P = 0.002) and having a minor child (aOR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.06–2.01; P = 0.022) were associated with an increased risk of depressive symptoms. Older age (aOR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.98–0.99; P = 0.008) was associated with a decreased risk of depressive symptoms.Conclusions: Anxiety and depressive symptoms have been common mental health problems in doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that female sex, having a minor child, and younger age were major risk factors for the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms among doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights
Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan on December 30, 2019 [1], the disease has had a huge impact on all aspects of Chinese society
The results showed that age, female sex, and having a minor child had effects on the anxiety symptoms of the doctors, and these differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05)
Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), marital status, sex, education, being a parent, having a minor child, chronic disease, working experience in years, living with family members, working for COVID-19 control and prevention, duration of care time, and household income were adjusted for, the results showed that female sex and having a minor child were associated with increased risk of anxiety symptoms (Table 2)
Summary
Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan on December 30, 2019 [1], the disease has had a huge impact on all aspects of Chinese society. Repeated modifications in infection control procedures and recommendations have increased the uncertainty In this setting, doctors have been directly involved in the diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients, which puts them at higher risk for chronic stress, psychological distress, and other mental health symptoms including depression, insomnia, stress, anxiety, anger, irritability, and emotional exhaustion. Gender, living in rural areas, female, low social support, risk of exposure to COVID-19-positive patients, fear of contracting the disease, worry about lack of medical supplies, and long working hours were significantly associated with anxiety and depression among clinical doctors [3, 4, 6,7,8]. The purpose of our study was to investigate the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms and their risk factors among doctors during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic
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