Department of Public Mental Health Research, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawahigashicho, Kodaira, Tokyo, 187-8553, Japan.
Department of Sleep-Wake Disorder, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawahigashicho, Kodaira, Tokyo, 187-8553, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2023 Aug 12;13(1):13139. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-40345-9.
The psychological distress experienced by coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) survivors after recovery from the illness is amplified by discrimination endured because of their infection status. However, the difference in the risk of facing discrimination and risk of experiencing psychological distress in the early and late waves of the COVID-19 pandemic remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether the risk of facing discrimination because of infection status was lower in the early or late waves and whether risk of discrimination on psychological distress was more serious in later, rather than earlier waves. We conducted two online surveys to collect data from survivors divided into two groups. The participants with scores of five or more on the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale were identified as having experienced psychological distress. The participants were identified as having experienced discrimination based on infection status if they had endured being blamed, some type of discrimination, or having themselves or their families maligned. The timing of infection was split into infected during early waves of the pandemic for 2021 participants and infected during later waves of the pandemic for 2022 participants. Modified Poisson regression analyses were performed using experiences of discrimination as criteria and timing of infection as predictors. Modified Poisson regression analyses were further performed using the presence of psychological distress as a criteria and experiences of discrimination and timing of infection as the criteria, in addition to interaction effect of these es. The data of 6010 participants who were infected in early waves and 5344 participants who were infected in later waves were analyzed. The risks of being blamed, some forms of discrimination, and participants and their families being maligned were significantly lower in the group who were infected in later waves than those infected in earlier waves. Experiences of discrimination were highly associated with psychological distress in those infected in later waves than those infected in earlier waves, while only being blamed showed a significant association. Risk of discrimination was found to be lower in those infected in later waves, whereas risk of discrimination on psychological distress was shown to be more serious in those infected in later waves. Therefore, we submit that it is more important to support COVID-19 survivors who face discrimination, than it is to attempt to decrease the current discriminatory climate caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
新冠肺炎（COVID-19）康复患者因感染状态而遭受歧视，这加剧了他们经历的心理困扰。然而，在 COVID-19 大流行的早期和晚期浪潮中，面临歧视的风险和经历心理困扰的风险之间的差异尚不清楚。本研究旨在调查感染状态导致的歧视风险在早期还是晚期较低，以及歧视对心理困扰的风险是否在后期而非早期更为严重。我们进行了两项在线调查，从分为两组的幸存者中收集数据。Kessler 心理困扰量表得分在五分或五分以上的参与者被确定为经历了心理困扰。如果参与者因感染而受到指责、受到某种形式的歧视或自己或家人受到诽谤，则认为他们经历了基于感染状况的歧视。感染时间分为 2021 年参与者在大流行早期感染和 2022 年参与者在大流行后期感染。使用歧视经历作为标准，感染时间作为预测因素，进行修正泊松回归分析。进一步使用存在心理困扰作为标准，歧视经历和感染时间作为标准，以及这些因素的交互作用，进行修正泊松回归分析。分析了 6010 名早期感染组和 5344 名晚期感染组的参与者数据。与早期感染组相比，晚期感染组被指责、遭受某些形式歧视和参与者及其家人被诽谤的风险显著降低。与早期感染组相比，晚期感染组的歧视经历与心理困扰高度相关，而仅被指责与心理困扰显著相关。与早期感染组相比，晚期感染组的歧视风险较低，而晚期感染组的歧视对心理困扰的风险更为严重。因此，我们认为，支持面临歧视的 COVID-19 幸存者比试图减少 COVID-19 大流行造成的当前歧视环境更为重要。
