Vaccination with SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccines reduced the risk of anxiety and depression in a population majored by health care workers during the recent omicron variant outbreak

Hong Zhao; Xia Yu; Wenyi Ye; Runzhu Wang; Jifang Sheng; Yu Shi

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.989952

Vaccination with SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccines reduced the risk of anxiety and depression in a population majored by health care workers during the recent omicron variant outbreak

Front Psychol. 2022 Nov 18:13:989952. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.989952. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Hong Zhao¹, Xia Yu¹, Wenyi Ye², Runzhu Wang¹, Jifang Sheng¹, Yu Shi¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
² Department of Traditional Chinese Internal Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Background: The mental health status of the population majored by health care workers in China during the omicron variant outbreak remains unknown. Furthermore, the effect of COVID-19-inactivated vaccines on mental health is yet to be investigated.

Methods: A cross-sectional, online survey study was conducted from 12-20 April, 2022. The prevalence of symptoms of depression and anxiety were evaluated using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.

Results: Responses from a total of 1,387 participants were analyzed, 39.7% of which reported symptoms of mental health illness. The incidence of anxiety (30.4% vs. 48.4%, p < 0.001) and depression (27.1% vs. 46.3%, p < 0.001) decreased with COVID-19 inactivated vaccination. From multivariate analysis, living in Shanghai (anxiety: Odds ratio [OR]: 1.58, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.14-2.19, p = 0.006; depression: OR: 1.61, 95% CI: 1.16-2.25, p = 0.005), with a mental illness (anxiety: OR: 8.97, 95% CI: 1.01-79.56, p = 0.049; depression: OR: 9.32, 95% CI: 1.06-82.30, p = 0.045) increased the incidence of anxiety and depression. Elderly participants (anxiety: OR: 0.986, 95% CI: 0.975-0.997, p = 0.012; depression: OR: 0.976, 95% CI: 0.965-0.987, p < 0.001) who had been vaccinated against COVID-19 (anxiety: OR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.32-0.75, p = 0.001; depression: OR: 0.45, 95% CI: 0.29-0.69, p < 0.001) had decreased incidences of anxiety and depression.

Conclusion: Our findings increase the awareness of the high incidence of mental health illness symptoms during the omicron variant outbreak despite previous experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic, and vaccination is suggested to reduce the risk of anxiety and depression.

Keywords: COVID-19; anxiety; depression; insomnia; omicron virus variant strain; vaccine.