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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Anxiety and Stress Disorders
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1393598

Network analysis of anxiety and cognitive impairment among mental healthcare workers

Provisionally accepted
Ruirui Chen Ruirui Chen 1Xianxian Zhao Xianxian Zhao 2Qinge Shen Qinge Shen 3Meng Li Meng Li 4Wei Yan Wei Yan 5Min Chen Min Chen 3,4Jicheng Dong Jicheng Dong 6Yaping Wang Yaping Wang 7Jian Cui Jian Cui 4,5*
  • 1 Clinical lab,Shandong Daizhuang Hospital, Jining, China
  • 2 Department of Hematology, Jining First People's Hospital, Jining, China
  • 3 Department of Psychiatry, School of Mental Health, Jining Medical University, Jining, China
  • 4 Department of Psychiatry, Shandong Daizhuang Hospital, Jining, China
  • 5 Precision Medicine Laboratory, Shandong Daizhuang Hospital, Jining, China
  • 6 Qingdao Mental Health Center, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
  • 7 The National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, Beijing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: With the rising demand for medical services and the associated burden, work-related stress and mental health issue have garnered increased attention among healthcare workers. Anxiety, cognitive impairment, and their comorbidities severely impact the physical and mental health as well as the work status of healthcare workers.The network analysis method was used to identify the anxiety and cognitive impairment among mental healthcare workers using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and the Perceived Deficit Questionnaire for Depression (PDQ-D). We sought to identify the core symptoms associated with the comorbidity of anxiety and cognitive impairment in mental healthcare workers.The study was conducted by Shandong Daizhuang Hospital and Qingdao Mental Health Center in China from September 13, 2022, to October 25, 2022, involving a total of 680 healthcare workers as participants. GAD-7 and PDQ-D were utilized to assess anxiety and cognitive impairment, respectively. Regularized partial correlation network analysis was employed to examing the expected influence and predictability of each item within the network. Statistical analysis and visualization of the network were performed using R software.The mean total score for anxiety was 3.25, while the mean total score for cognitive symptoms was 15.89. PDQ17 "Remembering numbers", PDQ12 "Trouble get started" and PDQ20 "Trouble make decisions" emerged as central symptoms in the anxiety-cognition network. GAD6 "Irritable", GAD5 "Restlessness" and GAD1 "Nervousness or anxiety" were identified as the most critical bridge symptoms connecting anxiety and cognition. Gender was found to be unrelated to the global strength of the network, edge weight distribution, or individual edge weights.Utilizing central and bridge symptoms (i.e., Remembering numbers, Trouble get started, Trouble make decisions, Irritable, Restlessness and Nervousness or anxiety) as primary intervention points may aid in mitigating the serious health consequences of anxiety, cognitive impairment, and comorbidities anxiety and cognitive impairment for mental healthcare workers.

    Keywords: Anxiety, cognitive impairment, Comorbidity, Network analysis, mental healthcare workers, PDQ-D, GAD-7

    Received: 29 Feb 2024; Accepted: 01 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chen, Zhao, Shen, Li, Yan, Chen, Dong, Wang and Cui. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jian Cui, Department of Psychiatry, Shandong Daizhuang Hospital, Jining, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.