PLoS ONE (Jan 2021)

The psychological effects of COVID-19 on hospital workers at the beginning of the outbreak with a large disease cluster on the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

  • Keiko Ide,
  • Takeshi Asami,
  • Akira Suda,
  • Asuka Yoshimi,
  • Junichi Fujita,
  • Munetaka Nomoto,
  • Tomohide Roppongi,
  • Kousuke Hino,
  • Yuichi Takahashi,
  • Kaori Watanabe,
  • Tomoko Shimada,
  • Toyoko Hamasaki,
  • Emi Endo,
  • Tomoko Kaneko,
  • Michiko Suzuki,
  • Kazumi Kubota,
  • Yusuke Saigusa,
  • Hideaki Kato,
  • Toshinari Odawara,
  • Hideaki Nakajima,
  • Ichiro Takeuchi,
  • Takahisa Goto,
  • Michiko Aihara,
  • Akitoyo Hishimoto

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245294
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 1
p. e0245294

Abstract

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The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychological effects of the COVID-19 outbreak and associated factors on hospital workers at the beginning of the outbreak with a large disease cluster on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. This cross-sectional, survey-based study collected demographic data, mental health measurements, and stress-related questionnaires from workers in 2 hospitals in Yokohama, Japan, from March 23, 2020, to April 6, 2020. The prevalence rates of general psychological distress and event-related distress were assessed using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the 22-item Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), respectively. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the 26-item stress-related questionnaires. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with mental health outcomes for workers both at high- and low-risk for infection of COVID-19. A questionnaire was distributed to 4133 hospital workers, and 2697 (65.3%) valid questionnaires were used for analyses. Overall, 536 (20.0%) were high-risk workers, 944 (35.0%) of all hospital workers showed general distress, and 189 (7.0%) demonstrated event-related distress. Multivariable logistic regression analyses revealed that 'Feeling of being isolated and discriminated' was associated with both the general and event-related distress for both the high- and low-risk workers. In this survey, not only high-risk workers but also low-risk workers in the hospitals admitting COVID-19 patients reported experiencing psychological distress at the beginning of the outbreak.