Mental health status of infected children between 7 to 12 years old in Fangcang Shelter Hospital during the COVID-19 Shanghai lockdown in 2022: a cross-section study

BACKGROUND: There has been an increase in research on the potential adverse effects on children’s mental health, especially depression and anxiety, during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic over the past few months. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate depression and anxiety symptoms among children in shelter hospitals during the 2022 Shanghai lockdown. METHODS: A total of 98 infected children aged 7–12 years were enrolled in this study between April 19 and June 4, 2022. The Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI), Anxiety Scale for Children-Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASC-ASD), and Anxiety Scale or Children-Autism Spectrum Disorder Parent Form (ASC-ADS-P) were used to assess children’s depression and anxiety symptoms. Children’s guardians completed the survey by verbally asking their child/children the questions. The guardians additionally completed the ASC-ASD-P. RESULTS: The prevalence of depression and anxiety was 12.2% and 13.3%, respectively. A total of 66 respondents reported no physical symptoms. Linear regression showed that myalgia [7.198, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.163–11.232], headache (7.189, 95% CI: 3.842–10.535) coryza (5.362, 95% CI: 2.654–8.070), and number of quarantine days (4.378, 95% CI: 3.409–5.348) were significantly correlated with higher levels of depression, whereas chills (14.337, 95% CI: 9.799–18.875), coryza (9.309, 95% CI: 6.467–12.152), headache (7.193, 95% CI: 3.182–11.204), myalgia (5.571, 95% CI: 0.684–10.459), number of quarantine days (3.190, 95% CI: 1.796–4.584), and gender (male) (−4.137, 95% CI: −6.609 to 1.665) were associated with anxiety scores. Persistent fever was correlated with depression (P=0.007), whereas physical discomfort, such as persistent fever, cough, sore throat, headache, myalgia, and coryza were correlated with anxiety (all P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the present study indicated a moderate prevalence of depression and anxiety among infected children in a shelter hospital during the 2022 Shanghai lockdown. Therefore, the findings of this study could provide scientific basis for the development of targeted psychological intervention. It could be helpful for policy-makers to focus on psychological health among infected children and help to optimize future interventions.