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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1392845
This article is part of the Research Topic Cognitive and Mental Health Improvement Under- and Post-COVID-19 View all 35 articles

Mental Health of Primary Health Care Physicians and Nurses Following Prolonged Infection Control Rules: A National Survey in China

Provisionally accepted
Jingru Li Jingru Li 1Yanling Zheng Yanling Zheng 2Yong Gan Yong Gan 3Zhaohui Du Zhaohui Du 4Xuemin Cai Xuemin Cai 5,6Rongjin Li Rongjin Li 7Wei Wang Wei Wang 8Tianwu Jiang Tianwu Jiang 9Qingyu Zhang Qingyu Zhang 10Lei Niu Lei Niu 11Tiffany Junchen Tao Tiffany Junchen Tao 1Wai Kai Hou Wai Kai Hou 1,12*
  • 1 Centre for Psychosocial Health, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong, SAR China
  • 2 Department of General Practice, Shouyilu Street Community Health Service Center, Wuhan, China
  • 3 Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hebei Province, China
  • 4 Shanggang Community Health Service Center, Shanghai, China
  • 5 Yinhang Community Health Service Center, Shanghai, Shanghai, China
  • 6 Laoshan Community Health Service Center, Qingdao, China
  • 7 Jinsong Community Health Service Center, Beijing, China
  • 8 Xinhua Shaocheng Community Health Service Center, Chengdu, China
  • 9 Tianshui Wulin Street Community Health Service Center, Hangzhou, China
  • 10 Jiexin Village Community Health Service Center, Lanzhou, China
  • 11 Xinglin Street Community Health Service Center, Hefei, China
  • 12 Department of Psychology, The Education University of Hong Kong, New Territories, Hong Kong, SAR China

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

    Introduction: This study examined the prevalence and correlates of probable mental health disorders, including psychological distress, somatization, depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety (PHO), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and insomnia among Chinese primary health care (PHC) physicians and nurses amid the postpandemic period in 2022.Method: Region-stratified sampling was conducted to recruit a national sample of 4,246 respondents from 31 July 2022 to 12 August 2022. 692 primary healthcare institutions were identified in 30 provincial-level administrative regions of China. An online questionnaire was used for measurement, including Symptoms Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Demographic and workrelated variables were also assessed. Bivariate analysis and multiple logistic regression were conducted to identify significant correlates of probable mental health disorders.Results: A total of 4,246 valid questionnaires were identified. Results showed that relative to prevalence of probable mental health disorders among health care workers at the early stage of the pandemic in China, there was an overall decreased prevalence except for somatization, PHO, and OCD among the current PHC physicians and nurses. Multiple logistic regressions showed that significant risk factors of all the current probable mental health disorders were female gender, overtime work, multimorbidity, history of psychiatric disorders, quarantine experience, and never asking anyone for help.Attention should be given to preexisting psychiatric and multimorbid conditions, work-related stressors, and social support. Regular assessment and psychological interventions could enhance the mental health of PHC professionals.

    Keywords: COVID-19, mental health disorder, Primary healthcare physician and nurse, Post-pandemic, SCL-90-R, Post-traumatic stress disorder

    Received: 28 Feb 2024; Accepted: 18 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Zheng, Gan, Du, Cai, Li, Wang, Jiang, Zhang, Niu, Tao and Hou. 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: Wai Kai Hou, Department of Psychology, The Education University of Hong Kong, New Territories, Hong Kong, SAR 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.