Depression and Anxiety in Hong Kong during COVID-19
1
School of Nursing, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
2
Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
3
Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
4
Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(10), 3740; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17103740
Received: 7 May 2020 / Revised: 19 May 2020 / Accepted: 21 May 2020 / Published: 25 May 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mental Health in the Time of COVID-19)
It has been three months since the first confirmed case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Hong Kong, and people now have a more complete picture of the extent of the pandemic. Therefore, it is time to evaluate the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health. The current population-based study aimed to evaluate the depression and anxiety of people in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents were randomly recruited and asked to complete a structured questionnaire, including the patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the generalized anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7), the global rating of change scale and items related to COVID-19. Of the 500 respondents included in the study, 19% had depression (PHQ-9 score ≥ 10) and 14% had anxiety (GAD score ≥ 10). In addition, 25.4% reported that their mental health had deteriorated since the pandemic. Multiple logistic regression analysis found that not experiencing the SARS outbreak in 2003, being worried about being infected by COVID-19, being bothered by having not enough surgical masks and being bothered by not being able to work from home were associated with a poorer mental health status. Psychological support, such as brief, home-based psychological interventions, should be provided to citizens during the pandemic.
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Keywords:
COVID-19; depression; anxiety; mental health; Hong Kong
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Choi, E.P.H.; Hui, B.P.H.; Wan, E.Y.F. Depression and Anxiety in Hong Kong during COVID-19. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 3740. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17103740
AMA Style
Choi EPH, Hui BPH, Wan EYF. Depression and Anxiety in Hong Kong during COVID-19. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(10):3740. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17103740
Chicago/Turabian StyleChoi, Edmond P.H.; Hui, Bryant P.H.; Wan, Eric Y.F. 2020. "Depression and Anxiety in Hong Kong during COVID-19" Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 17, no. 10: 3740. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17103740
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