Perceived risk and protection from infection and depressive symptoms among healthcare workers in mainland China and Hong Kong during COVID-19
Open accessAbstract
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.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
The PHQ-9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure
Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. W. (2001) · Journal of General Internal Medicine · doi:10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x · Cited by 44,910 · see citing works
Wang, C., Pan, R., Wan, X., Tan, Y., Xu, L., Ho, C. S., & Ho, R. C. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17051729 · Cited by 9,923 · see citing works
Spitzer, R. L. (1999) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.282.18.1737 · Cited by 9,802 · see citing works
Lai, J., Ma, S., Wang, Y., Cai, Z., Hu, J., Wei, N., Wu, J., Du, H., Chen, T., Li, R., et al. (2020) · JAMA Network Open · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.3976 · Cited by 8,015 · see citing works
The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review of Meta-analyses
Hofmann, S. G., Asnaani, A., Vonk, I. J. J., Sawyer, A. T., & Fang, A. (2012) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-012-9476-1 · Cited by 3,445 · see citing works
Shanafelt, T., Ripp, J., & Trockel, M. (2020) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.2020.5893 · Cited by 1,956 · see citing works
The outbreak of COVID-19: An overview
Wu, Y.-C., Chen, C.-S., & Chan, Y. (2020) · Journal of the Chinese Medical Association · doi:10.1097/jcma.0000000000000270 · Cited by 1,771 · see citing works
Chew, N. W. S., Lee, G. K. H., Tan, B. Y. Q., Jing, M., Goh, Y., Ngiam, N. J. H., Yeo, L. L. L., Ahmad, A., Ahmed Khan, F., Napolean Shanmugam, G., et al. (2020) · Brain, Behavior, and Immunity · doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2020.04.049 · Cited by 1,650 · cited 2× · see citing works
“The observations in Guangdong and Hubei are similar to those in other surrounding Asian countries during the COVID-19 outbreak (12).”
BackgroundResultKang, L., Ma, S., Chen, M., Yang, J., Wang, Y., Li, R., Yao, L., Bai, H., Cai, Z., Xiang Yang, B., et al. (2020) · Brain, Behavior, and Immunity · doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2020.03.028 · Cited by 1,516 · see citing works
Progression of Mental Health Services during the COVID-19 Outbreak in China
Li, W., Yang, Y., Liu, Z.-H., Zhao, Y.-J., Zhang, Q., Zhang, L., Cheung, T., & Xiang, Y.-T. (2020) · International Journal of Biological Sciences · doi:10.7150/ijbs.45120 · Cited by 1,213 · see citing works
Cook, T. M. (2020) · Anaesthesia · doi:10.1111/anae.15071 · Cited by 679 · see citing works
Sourcing Personal Protective Equipment During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Livingston, E., Desai, A., & Berkwits, M. (2020) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.2020.5317 · Cited by 637 · see citing works
Preventing occupational stress in healthcare workers
Ruotsalainen, J. H., Verbeek, J. H. A. M., Mariné, A., & Serra, C. (2015) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd002892.pub5 · Cited by 627 · see citing works
Preventing occupational stress in healthcare workers
Marine, A., Ruotsalainen, J. H., Serra, C., & Verbeek, J. H. (2006) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd002892.pub2 · Cited by 499 · see citing works
Yu, N. X., Tam, W., Wong, P. T. K., Lam, T. H., & Stewart, S. M. (2010) · Comprehensive Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2010.11.002 · Cited by 392 · see citing works
Ni, M. Y., Yao, X. I., Leung, K. S. M., Yau, C., Leung, C. M. C., Lun, P., Flores, F. P., Chang, W. C., Cowling, B. J., & Leung, G. M. (2020) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(19)33160-5 · Cited by 286 · see citing works
Introduction to the special section on cognitive bias modification in emotional disorders
Koster, E. H. W., Fox, E., & MacLeod, C. (2009) · Journal of Abnormal Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0014379 · Cited by 272 · see citing works
Sim, S., Moey, K. S. P., & Tan, N. C. (2014) · Singapore Medical Journal · doi:10.11622/smedj.2014037 · Cited by 246 · see citing works
Psychosocial Determinants of Immunization Behavior in a Swine Influenza Campaign
Cummings, K. M., Jette, A. M., Brock, B. M., & Haefner, D. P. (1979) · Medical Care · doi:10.1097/00005650-197906000-00008 · Cited by 161 · see citing works
Aoyagi, Y., Beck, C., Dingwall, R. W. J., & Nguyen‐Van‐Tam, J. S. (2015) · Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses · doi:10.1111/irv.12310 · Cited by 158 · see citing works
Xiang, Y.-T., Jin, Y., & Cheung, T. (2020) · JAMA Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.1057 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Caring for the carers: Ensuring the provision of quality maternity care during a global pandemic
Wilson, A. N., Ravaldi, C., Scoullar, M. J. L., Vogel, J. P., Szabo, R. A., Fisher, J., & Homer, C. (2020) · Women and Birth · doi:10.1016/j.wombi.2020.03.011 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
As COVID-19 cases, deaths and fatality rates surge in Italy, underlying causes require investigation
Rubino, S., Kelvin, N., Bermejo-Martín, J. F., et al. (2020) · The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries · doi:10.3855/jidc.12734 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Staff Mental Health Self-Assessment During the COVID-19 Outbreak
Chung, J. P.-Y., & Yeung, W. S. (2020) · East Asian Archives of Psychiatry · doi:10.12809/eaap2014 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Social Support and Social Networks in COPD: A Scoping Review
Barton, C., Effing, T., & Cafarella, P. (2015) · COPD Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease · doi:10.3109/15412555.2015.1008691 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Perceptions Related to Bird-to-Human Avian Influenza, Influenza Vaccination, and Use of Face Mask
Lau, J. T. F., Kim, J. H., Tsui, H. Y., & Griffiths, S. M. (2008) · Infection · doi:10.1007/s15010-008-7277-y · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Dionne, G., Desjardins, D., Lebeau, M., Messier, S., & Dascal, A. (2018) · Risks · doi:10.3390/risks6010008 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Li, Y., Scherer, N., Felix, L., & Kuper, H. (2021) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0246454 · Cited by 536 · see citing works
Bongelli, R., Canestrari, C., Fermani, A., Muzi, M., Riccioni, I., Bertolazzi, A., & Burro, R. (2021) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare9081086 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
- Authors
- Lam, S. C., Arora, T., Grey, I., Suen, L. K. P., Huang, E. Y.-Z., Li, D., & Lam, K. B. H.
- Affiliations
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HK)
- Zayed University (AE)
- Lebanese American University (LB)
- Zhongshan Polytechnic (CN)
- Venue
- Frontiers in Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2020-07-15
- Volume
- 11
- Pages
- 686-686
- ISSN
- 1664-0640 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7378321
- OpenAlex
- W3043538673
- Cited by
- 74
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 8
- FWCI
- 5.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- PolyU Institutional Research Archive (Hong Kong Polytechnic University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- University of Oxford
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Burnout
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers, depression, risk perception, infection control, personal protective equipment, face masks, mental health, infection control training, social support, Hong Kong, mainland China
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
