Mental health status of medical staff in Xinjiang Province of China based on the normalisation of COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control.

INTRODUCTION

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has burdened and threatened the psychological health of people around the world, especially those of front-line medical staff. This study aimed to explore the mental-health status and its associated factors amongst the medical workforce of Xinjiang province under the normalisation of the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control.

METHODS

A total of 408 medical staff were recruited from February 20 to March 10, 2021. Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) scale, Social support Scale, and Simplified Coping-Style Questionnaire were applied to assess their mental-health status and stress-coping tendency. Descriptive analyses, welch's T-test, chi-square test, and binary logistic regression were used to analyse the data.

RESULTS

The prevalence of mental-health problems was 20.25% (80/395) amongst the surveyed medical staff, and their total symptom mean score (1.31 ± 0.40) was lower than that of the general population (1.44 ± 0.43). Logistic regression analysis revealed that nurse, individual with poor health condition, those who lived with their elderly parents at home, those receiving less social support, and those with a negative stress-coping style were more likely to show psychological problems.

CONCLUSION

More attention should be paid to the mental state of the medical workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government and professional institutes should facilitate social supportive activities and essential counselling services to help strengthen the psychological resilience of medical staff. Additionally, it is necessary for health administration committee and hospitals to make COVID-19 prevention practice guides and risk communication principles for improving the mental health of the front-line medical staff.