• Du Xinjie, He Runlian, Oli Ahmed, Eulah Cho, and Seockhoon Chung.
• College of Health, Yuncheng Vocational and Technical University, Yuncheng, Shanxi, China.
• J. Korean Med. Sci. 2023 Nov 6; 38 (43): e338e338.

BackgroundHere we investigated whether cold chain workers' insomnia, work-related stress, and viral anxiety contributed to their depression. Furthermore, we investigated the role of viral anxiety in mediating the association between work-related stress and depressive symptoms.MethodsAll 200 invited cold chain workers voluntarily responded to an online survey. All were working at a market in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China, and responsible for testing nucleic acids in imported cold chain foods and disinfecting outer packaging at government request. We collected their demographic variables and rated their symptoms using the Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-6 Items (SAVE-6), Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey (MBI-GS).ResultsCold chain workers' depression was significantly correlated with higher SAVE-6 (r = 0.450, P < 0.01), ISI (r = 0.603, P < 0.01), MBI-GS (r = 0.481, P < 0.01), and PSS (r = 0.390, P < 0.01) scores. SAVE-6 score was significantly correlated with ISI (r = 0.462, P < 0.01), MBI-GS (r = 0.305, P < 0.01), and PSS (r = 0.268, P < 0.01) scores. Linear regression revealed that their depression was predicted by SAVE-6 (β = 0.183, P = 0.003), ISI (β = 0.409, P < 0.001), and MBI-GS (β = 0.236, P = 0.002, adjusted R² = 0.440, F = 40.04, P < 0.001) scores. Mediation analysis showed that their burnout directly influenced their depression, while viral anxiety or insomnia severity mediated the influence of burnout on depression.ConclusionThe study showed that burnout was a direct cause of depression and that viral anxiety and insomnia severity mediated the relationship between burnout and depression.© 2023 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences.

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