Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Jul 24, 2020
Date Accepted: Oct 9, 2020
Date Submitted to PubMed: Oct 10, 2020
Depression, Anxiety and Lifestyle Among Essential Workers: A Websurvey From Brazil And Spain During The Covid-19 Pandemic
ABSTRACT
Background:
Essential workers have been show to present higher prevalences of anxiety and depression positive screenings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals from countries presenting socioeconomic inequalities may be at increased risk to mental health disorders.
Objective:
Herein we aimed to assess the prevalence and predictors of depression, anxiety, and their comorbidity among essential workers from Brazil and Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods:
A web survey was conducted during April-May, 2020 in both countries. The main outcome was positive screening for depression only, anxiety only and both. Lifestyle was measured using a lifestyle multidimensional scale adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic (SMILE-C). A multinomial logistic regression model was performed to evaluate the factors associated with depression, anxiety, and both.
Results:
From the 22,786 individuals included in the websurvey, 34.2% were essential workers. Overall, 8·3%, 11·6% and 27·4% presented positive screenings for depression, anxiety, and both, respectively. After adjusting for confusion factors, the multinomial model showed that an unhealthy lifestyle increased the likelihood of depression (Adjusted Odds Ratio- AOR 4·00 (95% CI 2·72-5·87), anxiety (AOR 2·39 (95% CI 1·80-3·20), and both anxiety and depression (AOR 8·30 ( 95% CI5·90-11·7); while living in Brazil was associated with increased AOR 2·89 (95% CI 2·07-4·06) for depression, anxiety AOR 2·81 (95% CI 2·11-3·74), and both depression and anxiety AOR 5·99 (95%CI 4·53-7·91).
Conclusions:
Interventions addressing lifestyle may be useful in dealing with symptoms of common mental disorders during the strain imposed among essential workers by the COVID 19 pandemic. Essential workers that live in midle income countries with higher rates of inequality may face additional challenges. Ensuring equitable treatment and support may be an important challenge ahead, considering the possible syndemic effect of social determinants of health. Clinical Trial: Not applicable
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