Wang Yu-Cheng, Huang Yi-Ran, Sun He-Li, Feng Yuan, Chen Pan, Su Zhaohui, Cheung Teris, Ungvari Gabor S, Balbuena Lloyd, An Feng-Rong, Xiang Yu-Tao, Wang Gang
Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Public Health and Medicinal Administration, and Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, Macao SAR, China.
Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, Macao SAR, China.
Front Psychiatry. 2025 Aug 22;16:1610910. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1610910. eCollection 2025.
The COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on everyone's health and mental health professionals were no exception. This study examined the trajectory of the relationship between levels of physical fatigue and each of depression and anxiety in mental health professionals (MHPs) recovering from COVID-19.
A national survey of 9,858 MHPs who had recovered from COVID-19 was conducted between January and February 2023. The nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale, and a numerical rating scale were used to measure depression, anxiety and physical fatigue, respectively. Logistic regression with restricted cubic spline (RCS) models were created to examine the association of physical fatigue with depression and anxiety.
The prevalence of depression and anxiety in MHPs who recovered from COVID-19 infection were 47.0% (95%CI: 46.0-48.0%) and 28.9% (95%CI: 28.0-29.8%) respectively. The prevalence of moderate to severe physical fatigue was 44.2% (95%CI: 43.2-45.2%). The RCS models revealed a significant nonlinear relationship between physical fatigue and both depression and anxiety, with an inflection point at a fatigue score of 4. Above this threshold, the risk of both conditions increased significantly. Participants with poor perceived health and lower socioeconomic status had a significantly greater increase in depression and anxiety when fatigue levels were higher.
Moderate to severe physical fatigue was associated with depression and anxiety in MHPs recovering from COVID-19. Interventions aimed at alleviating fatigue may play a critical role in improving mental health outcomes in this vulnerable population.
新冠疫情对每个人的健康都造成了影响，心理健康专业人员也不例外。本研究调查了从新冠中康复的心理健康专业人员（MHP）的身体疲劳水平与抑郁和焦虑之间关系的变化轨迹。
2023年1月至2月对9858名从新冠中康复的MHP进行了一项全国性调查。分别使用九项患者健康问卷（PHQ - 9）、七项广泛性焦虑障碍（GAD - 7）量表和数字评分量表来测量抑郁、焦虑和身体疲劳。创建了带有受限立方样条（RCS）模型的逻辑回归来检验身体疲劳与抑郁和焦虑的关联。
从新冠感染中康复的MHP中，抑郁和焦虑的患病率分别为47.0%（95%CI：46.0 - 48.0%）和28.9%（95%CI：28.0 - 29.8%）。中度至重度身体疲劳的患病率为44.2%（95%CI：43.2 - 45.2%）。RCS模型显示身体疲劳与抑郁和焦虑之间存在显著的非线性关系，疲劳得分4分时出现拐点。高于此阈值，两种情况的风险均显著增加。健康感知较差和社会经济地位较低的参与者在疲劳水平较高时，抑郁和焦虑的增加更为显著。
中度至重度身体疲劳与从新冠中康复的MHP的抑郁和焦虑有关。旨在减轻疲劳的干预措施可能在改善这一脆弱人群的心理健康结果方面发挥关键作用。
