Survey of stress and anxiety among medical staff supporting Hubei province under the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background: During the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, medical staffs across the country supported Hubei province to control the pandemic effectively. Meanwhile, the unpredictable characteristics of COVID-19 have put medical staff under tremendous pressure and made them prone to psychological problems. Methods: Questionnaires were investigated among 126 medical staff who supported Hubei province. Multiple linear regression was used to explore the association between characteristics and stress and anxiety scores; ; the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) were performed to evaluate the predictive value of characteristics for anxiety and stress. Results: The proportions of 126 medical staff's anxiety and stress were 19.05% and 12.70% respectively. Many characteristics were significantly associated with stress and anxiety scores. The first three factors that were closely related to medical staff's anxiety and stress were consistent, and the order was as follows: department, monthly income and marital status; the top 8 features of importance were used to construct the ROC curve, and the area under the curve (AUC) for predicting anxiety and stress was respectively 0.755 and 0.674. Conclusions: The mental health of front-line medical staffs need to be concerned, and medical institutions should provide supportive protective measures, active social support and continuous psychological assistance.