College of Korean Medicine, Sangji University, Wonju, South Korea.
Division of Biology and Public Health, Mokwon University, Daejeon, South Korea.
Front Public Health. 2022 Jan 27;9:743625. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.743625. eCollection 2021.
Quarantine, a public health measure used to control the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, has been linked to an increased risk of developing adverse psychological sequelae. This study sought to investigate whether quarantining during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with depression among Koreans.
Data were obtained from the Seoul COVID-19 Study of Quarantine (SCS-Q) and the 2019 Korea Community Health Survey (KCHS). Using propensity scores estimated based on sociodemographic and health conditions, 919 individuals undergoing quarantine in the SCS-Q were matched with 919 individuals who did not experience quarantine in the 2019 KCHS. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Korean version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), where major depression is defined as a PHQ-9 score ≥ 10. Logistic regression models were adjusted for sociodemographic and health-related factors.
Depression prevalence was higher in quarantined individuals than in the control group (7.8 vs. 3.8%, < 0.001). Logistic regression analyses revealed that quarantining was associated with higher likelihoods of having major depression [odds ratio (OR) = 2.28, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.49, 3.51] after adjusting for relevant covariates.
Due to the online nature of the SCS-Q, this study included a limited number of elderly participants, limiting the generalizability of the findings to the general Korean population.
The findings suggest that Koreans undergoing COVID-19 quarantine are at higher risk of depression. While further investigation is warranted, public health measures to control infectious disease outbreaks, such as quarantine, would benefit from incorporating strategies to address unintended adverse psychological effects, such as depression.
检疫是用于控制 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行的公共卫生措施，已被证明与不良心理后果的风险增加有关。本研究旨在调查 COVID-19 大流行期间的检疫是否与韩国人抑郁有关。
数据来自首尔 COVID-19 检疫研究（SCS-Q）和 2019 年韩国社区健康调查（KCHS）。使用基于社会人口统计学和健康状况估计的倾向评分，将 SCS-Q 中接受检疫的 919 人与 2019 年 KCHS 中未经历检疫的 919 人进行匹配。使用韩国版患者健康问卷-9（PHQ-9）测量抑郁症状，PHQ-9 得分≥10 定义为重度抑郁。使用逻辑回归模型调整了社会人口统计学和与健康相关的因素。
与对照组相比，接受检疫的个体中抑郁发生率更高（7.8% vs. 3.8%，<0.001）。调整相关协变量后，逻辑回归分析显示，检疫与出现重度抑郁的可能性更高相关[比值比（OR）=2.28，95%置信区间（CI）：1.49，3.51]。
由于 SCS-Q 的在线性质，本研究纳入的老年参与者数量有限，限制了研究结果在韩国一般人群中的普遍性。
研究结果表明，接受 COVID-19 检疫的韩国人患抑郁症的风险更高。虽然需要进一步研究，但控制传染病爆发的公共卫生措施，如检疫，将受益于纳入解决意外心理不良影响（如抑郁）的策略。
