Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40917240›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2025

The non-linear association of physical fatigue with depression and anxiety among mental health professionals who recovered from COVID-19 infection: a national survey in China.

Yu-Cheng Wang, Yi-Ran Huang, He-Li Sun, Yuan Feng, Pan Chen, Zhaohui Su, Teris Cheung, Gabor S Ungvari, Lloyd Balbuena, Feng-Rong An and 2 more

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Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Yu-Cheng Wang *Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Public Health and Medicinal Administration, and Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, Macao SAR, China.
Yi-Ran Huang *Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Public Health and Medicinal Administration, and Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, Macao SAR, China.
He-Li Sun *Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Public Health and Medicinal Administration, and Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, Macao SAR, China.
Yuan Feng *Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & National Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Pan ChenUnit of Psychiatry, Department of Public Health and Medicinal Administration, and Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, Macao SAR, China.
Zhaohui SuSchool of Public Health, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
Teris CheungSchool of Nursing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Gabor S UngvariSection of Psychiatry, University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, WA, Australia.
Lloyd BalbuenaDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
Feng-Rong AnBeijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & National Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Yu-Tao XiangUnit of Psychiatry, Department of Public Health and Medicinal Administration, and Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, Macao SAR, China.
Gang WangBeijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders & National Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on everyone's health and mental health professionals were no exception. This study examined the trajectory of the relationship between levels of physical fatigue and each of depression and anxiety in mental health professionals (MHPs) recovering from COVID-19. Methods: A national survey of 9,858 MHPs who had recovered from COVID-19 was conducted between January and February 2023. The nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale, and a numerical rating scale were used to measure depression, anxiety and physical fatigue, respectively. Logistic regression with restricted cubic spline (RCS) models were created to examine the association of physical fatigue with depression and anxiety. Results: The prevalence of depression and anxiety in MHPs who recovered from COVID-19 infection were 47.0% (95%CI: 46.0-48.0%) and 28.9% (95%CI: 28.0-29.8%) respectively. The prevalence of moderate to severe physical fatigue was 44.2% (95%CI: 43.2-45.2%). The RCS models revealed a significant nonlinear relationship between physical fatigue and both depression and anxiety, with an inflection point at a fatigue score of 4. Above this threshold, the risk of both conditions increased significantly. Participants with poor perceived health and lower socioeconomic status had a significantly greater increase in depression and anxiety when fatigue levels were higher. Conclusions: Moderate to severe physical fatigue was associated with depression and anxiety in MHPs recovering from COVID-19. Interventions aimed at alleviating fatigue may play a critical role in improving mental health outcomes in this vulnerable population.

Indexed as

anxietyCOVID-19depressionmental health professionalsnonlinear associationphysical fatigue

Identifiers

PMID40917240
PMCPMC12411462

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