Association between engagement in COVID-19-related work and depressive symptoms among hospital workers in a designated COVID-19 hospital in Japan: a cross-sectional study.
BMJ Open
; 11(4): e049996, 2021 04 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1166516
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To examine whether engagement in COVID-19-related work was associated with an increased prevalence of depressive symptoms among the staff members working in a designated medical institution for COVID-19 in Tokyo, Japan.DESIGN:
A cross-sectional study.SETTING:
Data were obtained from a health survey conducted in July 2020 among the staff members of a designated medical institution for COVID-19 in Tokyo, Japan.PARTICIPANTS:
A total of 1228 hospital workers. EXPOSURE OF INTEREST Engagement in COVID-19-related work (qualitatively (ie, the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection at work or affiliation to related departments) as well as quantitatively (ie, working hours)) and job categories. OUTCOMEMEASURES:
Depressive symptoms.RESULTS:
There was no significant association between depressive symptoms and engagement in work with potential exposure to SARS-CoV-2 or affiliation to COVID-19-related departments. However, working for longer hours in March/April, when Japan witnessed a large number of infected cases, was significantly associated with depressive symptoms (≥11 hours/day prevalence ratio (PR)=1.45, 95% CI=1.06 to 1.99, compared with ≤8 hours/day). Nurses were more likely to exhibit depressive symptoms than did doctors (PR=1.70, 95% CI=1.14 to 2.54).CONCLUSIONS:
This study suggests that the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection at work or having an affiliation to related departments might not be linked with a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms among Japanese hospital workers; contrarily, long working hours appeared to increase the prevalence of depressive symptoms.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Personnel, Hospital
/
Depression
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
BMJ Open
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Bmjopen-2021-049996
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