Worries about COVID-19 infection and psychological distress at work and while commuting

  1. Masamichi Uehara
  2. Tomohiro Ishimaru
  3. Hajime Ando
  4. Seiichiro Tateishi
  5. Hisashi Eguchi
  6. Mayumi Tsuji
  7. Koji Mori
  8. Shinya Matsuda
  9. Yoshihisa Fujino

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Abstract

Objective

This study examined the relationship between worry about COVID-19 infection in the workplace and while commuting to work and psychological distress in Japan.

Methods

An internet monitor study was conducted. Out of a total of 33,302 participants, 26,841 people were included. The subjects were asked single-item questions about whether they were worried about COVID-19 infection in general, at work and while commuting to work. Kessler 6 (K6) was used to assess psychological distress.

Results

The OR was significantly higher in association with worry about infection in the workplace at 1.71 (95%CI 1.53–1.92) and worry about infection while commuting at 1.49 (95%CI 1.32–1.67).

Conclusions

This study suggests the need for psychological intervention to reduce worry about infection in response to public mental health challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Article activity feed

  1. Version published to 10.1101/2021.02.16.21250657v2 on medRxiv
  2. Version published to 10.1097/jom.0000000000002309
  3. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.02.16.21250657: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementIRB: This study was approved by the ethics committee of the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan(reference No. R2-079).
    Consent: Informed consent was obtained in the form of the website.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variableAfter further excluding 195 individuals who indicated in the survey that they had already been infected with COVID-19, a total of 26,841 individuals (13,713 males and 13,128 females) were included in the current analysis.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    All analyses were conducted using Stata (Stata Statistical Software: Release 16; StataCorp LLC, TX, USA).
    StataCorp
    suggested: (Stata, RRID:SCR_012763)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Limitations of this study warrant mention. First, the generalizability of the results is uncertain because this study was conducted through internet monitors. However, we attempted to reduce as much bias in the target population as possible by sampling according to region, job type, and prefecture based on the infection incidence rate. Second, the study asked simple questions about individuals’ worries about infection, and was not intended to diagnose psychiatric symptoms or psychiatric illnesses. Participants who indicated that they were worried may also exhibit psychiatric symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, and panic; however, distinguishing these symptoms was outside the scope of this study. Third, worry about infection in the workplace is thought to be greatly influenced by the type of job and the environment in which one works. Health care workers are a typical example of a population that is at high risk of infection and are more likely to experience psychological distress10. In this study, we only adjusted for simple variables such as job type (desk work and physical work) and the number of employees in the workplace. Fourth, because this was a cross-sectional study, the temporal relationship between worry about infection and psychological distress is unclear. Excessive anxiety and depression may be symptoms of psychological distress. Previous studies have shown that people with a history of psychiatric disorders are more anxious and show greater psychological dist...

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

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  4. Version published to 10.1101/2021.02.16.21250657v1 on medRxiv