• J Affect Disord · Oct 2020

    The mental health of frontline and non-frontline medical workers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in China: A case-control study.

    • Qi Cai, Hongliang Feng, Jing Huang, Meiyao Wang, Qunfeng Wang, Xuanzhen Lu, Yu Xie, Xing Wang, Zhenxing Liu, Botong Hou, Keni Ouyang, Jing Pan, Qin Li, Beibei Fu, Yongchao Deng, and Yumin Liu.
    • Department of Neurology, Zhongnan hospital of Wuhan University, 169 Donghu Road, Wuchang District, Wuhan 430071, Hubei, PR China.
    • J Affect Disord. 2020 Oct 1; 275: 210-215.

    Background And ObjectiveCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new infectious disease with high transmissibility and morbidity. It has caused substantial mental distress to medical professionals. We aimed to compare the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak between frontline and non-frontline medical workers in China.MethodsThis case-control study recruited 1173 frontline and 1173 age- and sex-matched non-frontline medical workers during the COVID-19 outbreak (February 11 to 26, 2020). A set of online questionnaires were used to measure mental problems (i.e., anxiety, insomnia, and depressive symptoms), and help-seeking behavior and treatment for these mental problems.ResultsFrontline medical workers had higher rates of any mental problem (52.6% vs. 34.0%, adjusted OR=1.88, 95% CI=1.57-2.25), anxiety symptoms (15.7% vs. 7.4%, adjusted OR=1.95, 95% CI=1.46-2.61), depressed mood (marginally insignificant; 14.3% vs. 10.1%, adjusted OR=1.32, 95% CI=0.99-1.76) and insomnia (47.8% vs. 29.1%, adjusted OR=1.96, 95% CI=1.63-2.36) than non-frontline medical workers. No significant difference was observed in terms of suicidal ideation (12.0% vs. 9.0%, adjusted OR=1.25, 95% CI=0.92-1.71), help-seeking (4.5% vs. 4.5%, adjusted OR=1.00, 95% CI=0.53-1.87) or treatment (3.4% vs. 2.3%, adjusted OR=1.38, 95% CI=0.54-3.52) for mental problems.LimitationsThe case-control nature of the data precludes causal inferences, and there is a possibility of bias related to self-reports.ConclusionsFrontline medical workers had more mental problems but comparable help-seeking behaviors and treatment for these problems than non-frontline medical workers. These findings highlight the timely mental support and intervention for medical workers, especially for those on the frontline.Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.

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