Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Sep 2023)

Sex Differences in Prevalence and Clinical Correlates of Depression in Individuals Infected with Omicron in China

  • Zheng D,
  • Yang L,
  • Li M,
  • Qiu Y,
  • Gao Y,
  • Li J

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 16
pp. 3635 – 3646

Abstract

Read online

Doudou Zheng,* Liqin Yang,* Meijuan Li, Yuying Qiu, Ying Gao, Jie Li Tianjin Mental Health Institute, Tianjin Anding Hospital, Mental Health Center of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jie Li, Tianjin Mental Health Centre, Tianjin Anding Hospital, 13 Liulin Road, Hexi District, Tianjin, 300222, People’s Republic of China, Tel/Fax +86-22-88188006, Email [email protected]: Sex differences in depression have been well recognized. However, sex differences in depression among Omicron-infected individuals have received little systematic study. This study compared sex differences in depression in infected individuals during the 2022 Omicron pandemic in China.Patients and Methods: 506 individuals infected with Omicron (males/females = 268/238) were recruited from Tianjin and Shanghai in China. Self-developed Scale of Demographics were used to collect demographic and clinical data, Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), De Jong Gierveld Scale (DJGLS), and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) were used to measure respondents’ depression, anxiety, resilience, loneliness and worry, respectively.Results: The prevalence rate of depression in male patients was significantly higher than in female patients (42.2% versus 31.9%; χ2 = 5.64, p = 0.018). Regression analysis showed that in female patients, depression was associated with anxiety [OR = 1.26, 95% CI (1.16– 1.36), p < 0.001], and resilience [OR = 0.98, 95% CI (0.96– 1.00), p < 0.05], while in male patients, depression was associated with anxiety [OR = 1.24, 95% CI (1.15– 1.33), p < 0.001].Conclusion: This on-site study demonstrates that depression is more frequent in male than female Omicron-infected patients and suggests that sex differences should be considered in prevention and treatment strategies for depression during the Omicron pandemic.Keywords: depression, sex difference, Omicron-infected, China

Keywords