Psychological status and fatigue of frontline staff two months after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in China: A cross-sectional study

Teng, Ziwei; Wei, Zirou; Qiu, Yan; Tan, Yuxi; Chen, Jindong; Tang, Hui; Wu, Haishan; Wu, Renrong; Huang, Jing

OBJECTIVE: Assessing the psychological status and fatigue of frontline staff exposed to COVID-19 in China. MEASURES: A cross-sectional survey via online questionnaires was conducted to evaluate frontline staff's psychological status and fatigue. Occurrence of depression, anxiety, and fatigue were measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and The Fatigue Self-Assessment Scale (FSAS), respectively. RESULTS: The study included 2614 participants and found that anxiety (23.4%), depression (50.0%), and fatigue (73.7%) were common in frontline workers. Participants were divided into five groups (community workers, health care workers, volunteers, market administration, and others). Analysis showed that levels of depression, anxiety, and fatigue were much higher in community workers than others (P < 0.01). Binary logistic regression indicated that being a woman, young age, sleeping difficulty, having lower income or family support, and physical or mental diseases, were associated with bad mood and proneness to fatigue. Spearman analysis showed fatigue to be highly correlated with depression and anxiety. CONCLUSION: In this study of frontline staff fighting COVID-19 in China, a high incidence of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and fatigue was reported. Effective strategies need to be provided immediately to improve the mental health of staff in the COVID-19 frontline, with community workers, women, the young, and those with physical and mental diseases requiring particular attention.