Survey of Insomnia and Related Social Psychological Factors Among Medical Staff Involved in the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease Outbreak

Chenxi Zhang; Lulu Yang; Shuai Liu; Simeng Ma; Ying Wang; Zhongxiang Cai; Hui Du; Ruiting Li; Lijun Kang; Meilei Su; Jihui Zhang; Zhongchun Liu; Bin Zhang

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00306

Survey of Insomnia and Related Social Psychological Factors Among Medical Staff Involved in the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease Outbreak

Front Psychiatry. 2020 Apr 14:11:306. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00306. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Chenxi Zhang^{1

2}, Lulu Yang^{1

2}, Shuai Liu^{1

2}, Simeng Ma³, Ying Wang³, Zhongxiang Cai³, Hui Du⁴, Ruiting Li³, Lijun Kang³, Meilei Su^{1

2}, Jihui Zhang⁵, Zhongchun Liu³, Bin Zhang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
² Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Guangzhou, China.
³ Department of Psychiatry, RenMin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Jing Men No. 2 People's Hospital, Jingmen, China.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.

Abstract

Objective: The outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) not only caused particularly large public health problems, but also caused great psychological distress, especially for medical staff. We aimed to investigate the prevalence rate of insomnia and to confirm the related social psychological factors among medical staff in hospitals during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Method: Medical staff members in China were recruited, including frontline medical workers. The questionnaire, administered through the WeChat program, obtained demographic data and asked self-design questions related to the COVID-19 outbreak, insomnia/depressive/anxiety symptoms, and stress-related symptoms. We used a logistic regression analysis to examine the associations between sociodemographic factors and insomnia symptoms.

Result: There were a total of 1,563 participants in our study. Five-hundred-and-sixty-four (36.1%) participants had insomnia symptoms according to the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) (total score ≥ 8). A multiple binary logistic regression model revealed that insomnia symptoms were associated with an education level of high school or below (OR = 2.69, p = 0.042, 95% CI = 1.0-7.0), being a doctor (OR = 0.44, p = 0.007, 95% CI = 0.2-0.8), currently working in an isolation unit (OR = 1.71, p = 0.038, 95% CI = 1.0-2.8), is worried about being infected (OR = 2.30, p < 0.001, 95% CI = 1.6-3.4), perceived lack of helpfulness in terms of psychological support from news or social media with regard to COVID-19 (OR = 2.10, p = 0.001, 95% CI = 1.3-3.3), and having very strong uncertainty regarding effective disease control (OR = 3.30, p = 0.013, 95% CI = 1.3-8.5).

Conclusion: Our study found that more than one-third of the medical staff suffered insomnia symptoms during the COVID-19 outbreak. The related factors included education level, an isolation environment, psychological worries about the COVID-19 outbreak, and being a doctor. Interventions for insomnia among medical staff are needed considering the various sociopsychological factors at play in this situation.

Keywords: COVID-19; insomnia; isolation; medical staff; mental health; outbreak; sleep quality; stress.