Psychological burden of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder traits on medical workers under the COVID-19 outbreak: a cross-sectional web-based questionnaire survey.
BMJ Open
; 11(10): e053737, 2021 10 20.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1476609
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
There are numerous reports on the psychological burden of medical workers after the COVID-19 outbreak; however, no study has examined the influence of developmental characteristics on the mental health of medical workers. The objective of this study was to examine whether the developmental characteristics of medical workers are associated with anxiety and depression after the COVID-19 outbreak.DESIGN:
We conducted an online cross-sectional questionnaire survey in October 2020. PARTICIPANTS ANDSETTING:
The data of 640 medical workers were analysed. The questionnaire included items on sociodemographic data, changes in their life after the COVID-19 outbreak and symptoms of depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) traits and autism spectrum disorder traits. MAINOUTCOMES:
Depression symptoms were assessed by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and anxiety symptoms were assessed by the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7. A series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed to test the effects of developmental characteristics on depression and anxiety symptoms after controlling for sociodemographic factors and changes in participants' lives after the COVID-19 outbreak.RESULTS:
Increases in physical and psychological burden were observed in 49.1% and 78.3% of the subjects, respectively. The results of a multiple regression analysis showed that ADHD traits were significantly associated with both depression (ß=0.390, p<0.001) and anxiety (ß=0.426, p<0.001). Autistic traits were significantly associated with depression (ß=0.069, p<0.05) but not anxiety. Increased physical and psychological burden, being female, medical workers other than physicians and nurses, fear of COVID-19 and experience of discrimination were also significantly associated with both depression and anxiety.CONCLUSION:
Globally, the burden on medical workers increased. This study suggested that medical workers with higher ADHD traits may need special attention during the COVID-19 pandemic.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity
/
Autism Spectrum Disorder
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
BMJ Open
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Bmjopen-2021-053737
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