Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Oct 19, 2024; 14(10): 1495-1505
Published online Oct 19, 2024. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v14.i10.1495
Influence of the continuing COVID-19 epidemic on sleep quality and psychological status of healthcare workers in private institutions
Man-In Ho, Zhe-Hao Wu, Yu-Ying Chen, Weng-Io Leong, Jue Wang, Hua Zhou, Zi-Tuo Wu, Ying-Qi Mao, Jia-An Du, Yi Zheng, Yi Yu, Paulo Do Lago Comandante, Li-Li Yu, Qi-Biao Wu
Man-In Ho, Zhe-Hao Wu, Yu-Ying Chen, Jue Wang, Ying-Qi Mao, Jia-An Du, Yi Zheng, Yi Yu, Li-Li Yu, Qi-Biao Wu, Faculty of Chinese Medicine, Medical Sciences Division, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau 999078, China
Zhe-Hao Wu, Department of Child Rehabilitation, Children Health Care, Jieyang Women Infant Health Care Hospital, Jieyang 522000, Guangdong Province, China
Weng-Io Leong, Macau Association for Analytical Psychology, Macau 999078, China
Jue Wang, Li-Li Yu, Qi-Biao Wu, The State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau 999078, China
Hua Zhou, State Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510006, Guangdong Province, China
Hua Zhou, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Guangzhou 511400, Guangdong Province, China
Hua Zhou, Qi-Biao Wu, Chinese Medicine Guangdong Laboratory (Hengqin Laboratory), Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, Hengqin 519000, Guangdong Province, China
Zi-Tuo Wu, University Hospital, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau 999078, China
Ying-Qi Mao, Department of Rehabilitation, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine), Hangzhou 310006, Zhejiang Province, China
Yi Zheng, Department of Clinical Nutrition, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Xinhua Hospital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310000, Zhejiang Province, China
Paulo Do Lago Comandante, Associação dos Investigadores, Praticantes e Promotores da Medicina Chinesa de Macau, Macau 999078, China
Li-Li Yu, Qi-Biao Wu, Zhuhai MUST Science and Technology Research Institute, Macau University of Science and Technology, Zhuhai 519099, Guangdong Province, China
Qi-Biao Wu, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Contaminants Exposure and Health, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510000, Guangdong Province, China
Co-first authors: Man-In Ho and Zhe-Hao Wu.
Co-corresponding authors: Li-Li Yu and Qi-Biao Wu.
Author contributions: Ho MI and Wu ZH are designated as co-first authors, and Yu LL and Wu QB are designated as co-corresponding authors who contributed equally to this manuscript. Ho MI and Wu ZH contributed to the conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, and writing - original draft; Chen YY and Mao YQ participated in the software; Yu LL and Wu QB took part in the validation and funding acquisition; Wu ZT and Do Lago Comandante P contributed to the resources; Ho MI, Yu LL, and Wu QB were involved in the data curation; Leong WI, Wang J, Zhou H, Yu LL, and Wu QB took part in the writing - review and editing of this manuscript; Du JA, Zheng Y, and Yu Y participated in the visualization; Zhou H contributed to the supervision; Yu LL and Wu QB participated in the project administration.
Supported by Specialized Subsidy Scheme for Macao Higher Education Institutions in the Area of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences, No. HSS-MUST-2020-04.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by Macau University of Science and Technology Medical Ethics Committee (protocol code MUST-HSS-202301331001).
Informed consent statement: All participants read the questionnaire instructions before proceeding to the questionnaire question page or continuing with their responses. Informed consent for data sharing was not obtained but the presented data are anonymized, and risk of identification is low.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: Statistical code and dataset available from the corresponding author at llyu@must.edu.mo. Informed consent for data sharing was not obtained, but the questionnaire was answered anonymously and the risk of identification within the data was low.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Li-Li Yu, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, The State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Macau University of Science and Technology, Avenida Wai Long, Taipa, Macau 999078, China. llyu@must.edu.mo
Received: July 8, 2024
Revised: September 7, 2024
Accepted: September 29, 2024
Published online: October 19, 2024
Processing time: 100 Days and 23.4 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

On January 22, 2020, Macao reported its first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. By August 2021, the situation had escalated into a crisis of community transmission. In response, the government launched a recruitment campaign seeking assistance and services of healthcare workers (HCWs) from the private sector throughout Macao. These participants faced concerns about their own health and that of their families, as well as the responsibility of maintaining public health and wellness. This study aims to determine whether the ongoing epidemic has caused them physical and psychological distress.

AIM

To examine the influence of COVID-19 on the sleep quality and psychological status of HCWs in private institutions in Macao during the pandemic.

METHODS

Data were collected from December 2020 to January 2022. Two consecutive surveys were conducted. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scale, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) were employed as investigation tools.

RESULTS

In the first-stage survey, 32% of HCWs experienced a sleep disorder, compared to 28.45% in the second-stage survey. A total of 31.25% of HCWs in the first-stage survey and 28.03% in the second had varying degrees of anxiety. A total of 50.00% of HCWs in the first-stage survey and 50.63% in the second experienced varying degrees of depression. No difference in PSQI scores, SAS scores, or SDS scores were observed between the two surveys, indicating that the COVID-19 epidemic influenced the sleep quality and psychological status of HCWs. The negative influence persisted over both periods but did not increase remarkably for more than a year. However, a positive correlation was observed between the PSQI, SAS, and SDS scores (r = 0.428-0.775, P < 0.01), indicating that when one of these states deteriorated, the other two tended to deteriorate as well.

CONCLUSION

The sleep quality, anxiety, and depression of HCWs in private institution in Macao were affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. While these factors did not deteriorate significantly, the negative effects persisted for a year and remained noteworthy.

Keywords: COVID-19; Healthcare workers; Sleep quality; Anxiety; Depression; Psychological status

Core Tip: This study highlights the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on the sleep quality and psychological status of healthcare workers in private institutions in Macao during the pandemic. Their sleep quality, anxiety, and depression were negatively affected for a year, with two surveys conducted a year apart revealing a strong correlation between anxiety and depression. These findings offer valuable insights for various industries and serve as a reference for studies in other regions.