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Perceived Risk and Protection From Infection and Depressive Symptoms Among Healthcare Workers in Mainland China and Hong Kong During COVID-19
Frontiers in Psychiatry
  • Simon Ching Lam, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
  • Teresa Arora, Zayed University
  • Ian Grey, Lebanese American University
  • Lorna Kwai Ping Suen, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
  • Emma Yun zhi Huang, Zhongshan Polytechnic
  • Daofan Li, Zhongshan Medical Association
  • Kin Bong Hubert Lam, University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division
ORCID Identifiers

0000-0001-8360-7358

Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-15-2020
Abstract

© Copyright © 2020 Lam, Arora, Grey, Suen, Huang, Li and Lam. Psychological health among healthcare workers (HCWs) has become a major concern since the COVID-19 outbreak. HCWs perceived risks of contracting COVID-19, in relation to depression were investigated. It was hypothesized that perceived high risk of contracting COVID-19 (close contact with cases, inadequate provision of personal protective equipment, insufficient infection control training, and presence of symptoms) would be significant predictors of depression. Our cross-sectional survey was completed by HCWs across three regions (Hubei, Guangdong, Hong Kong) between March 9 to April 9 2020 using convenience sampling. Depression was assessed using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Prevalence of depression was 50.4% (95% CI: 44.5-56.2), 15.1% (10.1-21.9) and 12.9% (10.3-16.2) for HCWs in Hong Kong, Hubei and Guangdong, respectively. The strongest significant risk factors for depression, after adjustment, were HCWs who reported the greatest extent of feeling susceptible to contracting COVID-19 and those who reported the greatest difficulty obtaining face masks. HCWs whose family/peers greatly encouraged face mask use had lower prevalence of depression. Access to adequate supplies of personal protective equipment is essential for the psychological health of HCWs working in stressful environments, through potentially easing their perceptions of vulnerability to COVID-19.

Publisher
Frontiers Media S.A.
Keywords
  • COVID-19,
  • depression,
  • healthcare workers,
  • perceived vulnerability,
  • personal protective equipment
Scopus ID

85088786157

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Indexed in Scopus
Yes
Open Access
Yes
Open Access Type
Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series
Citation Information
Simon Ching Lam, Teresa Arora, Ian Grey, Lorna Kwai Ping Suen, et al.. "Perceived Risk and Protection From Infection and Depressive Symptoms Among Healthcare Workers in Mainland China and Hong Kong During COVID-19" Frontiers in Psychiatry Vol. 11 (2020) p. 686 ISSN: <p><a href="https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/issn/1664-0640" target="_blank">1664-0640</a></p>
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/teresa-arora/21/