Shota Saito1, Huyen Thi Thanh Tran2, Ruan Qi2, Kenji Suzuki2, Toru Takiguchi2, Kazuo Ishigami2, Shinichi Noto3, Sachiko Ohde4,5, Osamu Takahashi4,5,6. 1. Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Health Technology Assessment, St. Luke's International University, OMURA Susumu & Mieko Memorial St. Luke's Center for Clinical Academia, 5th Floor 3-6-2 Tsukiji Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0045, Japan. ssaito@slcn.ac.jp. 2. Field of Health Informatics and Business Administration, Graduate School, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, Japan. 3. Department of Occupational Therapy, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, Japan. 4. Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Health Technology Assessment, St. Luke's International University, OMURA Susumu & Mieko Memorial St. Luke's Center for Clinical Academia, 5th Floor 3-6-2 Tsukiji Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0045, Japan. 5. Graduate School of Public Health, St. Luke's International University, Tokyo, Japan. 6. Department of General Internal Medicine, St. Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused mental health problems and increased unemployment due to the economic recession. This survey aimed to assess the psychological impact of the state of emergency. We estimated changes in mental health, quality of life, and unemployment experience for general workers during the first COVID-19 outbreak in Japan. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide follow-up study. During the periods of March 26 to April 6, 2020 and June 26 to July 2, 2020, we used the internet to survey general workers aged 15 to 59 years in Japan. The questionnaire items covered employment status and socioeconomic factors, and we used the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and EQ-5D-5L to assess depression and health-related quality of life (HR-QOL), respectively. The differences in outcomes of permanent and non-permanent workers were analyzed using propensity score analysis. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship between unemployment and CES-D scores. RESULTS: We included 2351 subjects in the analysis. Changes in both CES-D scores and utility were not significantly different between the two groups. However, a significant difference was found regarding the rate of unemployment, which was associated with higher CES-D scores. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrated that the mental health of non-permanent workers was not negatively affected following the state of emergency due to COVID-19 in Japan. Unemployment is an important factor that influences the mental health of general workers.
BACKGROUND: The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused mental health problems and increased unemployment due to the economic recession. This survey aimed to assess the psychological impact of the state of emergency. We estimated changes in mental health, quality of life, and unemployment experience for general workers during the first COVID-19 outbreak in Japan. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide follow-up study. During the periods of March 26 to April 6, 2020 and June 26 to July 2, 2020, we used the internet to survey general workers aged 15 to 59 years in Japan. The questionnaire items covered employment status and socioeconomic factors, and we used the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and EQ-5D-5L to assess depression and health-related quality of life (HR-QOL), respectively. The differences in outcomes of permanent and non-permanent workers were analyzed using propensity score analysis. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship between unemployment and CES-D scores. RESULTS: We included 2351 subjects in the analysis. Changes in both CES-D scores and utility were not significantly different between the two groups. However, a significant difference was found regarding the rate of unemployment, which was associated with higher CES-D scores. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrated that the mental health of non-permanent workers was not negatively affected following the state of emergency due to COVID-19 in Japan. Unemployment is an important factor that influences the mental health of general workers.
Entities:
Keywords:
COVID-19; Employment security; General workers; Mental health; Propensity score analysis; Quality of life; Unemployment; Web survey