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

Doudou Zheng; Liqin Yang; Meijuan Li; Yuying Qiu; Ying Gao; Jie Li

doi:10.2147/PRBM.S427226

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

Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2023 Sep 5:16:3635-3646. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S427226. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Doudou Zheng^#¹, Liqin Yang^#¹, Meijuan Li¹, Yuying Qiu¹, Ying Gao¹, Jie Li¹

Affiliation

¹ Tianjin Mental Health Institute, Tianjin Anding Hospital, Mental Health Center of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: 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: China; Omicron-infected; depression; sex difference.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Training Programme Foundation for the Talents by Tianshui, Foundation of Tianjin Health Commission for Young Scholars (KJ20025), Foundation of Tianjin Health Commission for Young Scholars (KJ20067) and Tianjin Key Medical Discipline (Specialty) Construction Project (TJYXZDXK-033A).