The mental state and risk factors of Chinese medical staff and medical students in early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the mental state of medical staff and medical students in the early stages of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, as well as analyze the risk factors of serious mental illness (SMI), so as to provide a scientific basis for further psychological intervention and management. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from February 2–7, 2020. The Kessler 6 Psychological Distress Scale and a general information questionnaire were administered on-line to a convenience sample of 548 medical staff and medical students in China. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was used to screen the risk factors of SMI in medical staff and medical students. RESULTS: Of the 505 respondents in the final analysis, 188 (37.23%) were at high risk of SMI. Respondents were at significantly higher risk of SMI if they had been suspected of being infected with the SARS-CoV-2 (OR = 7.00, 95% CI: 1.19–41.14), had relatives suspected of being infected with the SARS-CoV-2 (OR = 23.60, 95% CI: 1.11–501.30), felt concerned towards media coverage of outbreak-related information (OR = 11.95, 95% CI: 3.07–46.57), recently dreamed related to SARS-CoV-2 (OR = 4.21, 95% CI: 2.22–8.01), experienced difficulty in controlling emotions during SARS-CoV-2 epidemic (OR = 3.25, 95% CI: 1.66–6.37), or spent hours watching outbreaks per day (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.13–1.46). CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight that medical staff and medical students were vulnerable to SMI during the early stages of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak and identify the factors associated with SMI which can be used to formulate psychological interventions to improve the mental health. The independent risk factors for SMI among them are suspicion that they or relatives were infected with the SARS-CoV-2, greater interest in media reports about the epidemic, frequency of recent dreams related to SARS-CoV-2, difficulty in controlling emotions during the epidemic, and hours spent watching outbreaks per day.