Assessment of the Mental Health of Front Line Healthcare Workers in a COVID-19 Epidemic Epicenter of China

Background: The aim of this study was to explore the impact that COVID-19 has had on the mental health of the healthcare personnel in the Hubei province, China. Methods: Healthcare professionals who had directly treated confirmed COVID-19 patients at the Wuhan Union Hospital were enrolled. All participants completed three questionnaires: the Chinese Health Questionnaire, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and the Parental Bonding Instrument. Possible predisposing and perpetuating factors for mental health symptoms were investigated. Results: Of 643 participants, 337 (52.41%) developed significant mental symptoms, while 306 (47.59%) participants showed no evident symptoms. Use of the structural equation model highlighted that extraversion and (β=-0.15，p=0.003) and neuroticism (β=0.38，p<10-4) and academic (β=0.846，p=0.005) had a direct impact on healthcare personnel’s ability to handle the psychological strain of COVID-19. Paternal banding had an indirect influence on the ability to cope with the mental ramifications of COVID-19. Conclusion: Both academic status, neuroticism, extraversion and Parents' attachment impacted the mental health of healthcare personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. These results can be a useful reference, relevant worldwide, for the establishment of appropriate intervention and prevention programs for medical care personnel facing medical disasters. Funding Statement: This research was supported by a grant (No.81772345) from the National Natural Science Foundation of China; National Key Research & Development Program of China (No.2018YFC2001502, 2018YFB1105705); National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China (No. ZX-01-018，ZX-01-C2016153); and the Health Commission of Hubei Province (No. WJ2019Z009). Declaration of Interests: All authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: Approval was obtained from the institutional review board at the Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology.