Scientific research

Mental health, risk factors, and social media use during the COVID-19 epidemic among the community and health professionals in Wuhan, China.

HKU SPH researchers conducted an online survey about risk factors for probable anxiety and depression in the community and health professionals in Wuhan, China during the early stage of COVID-19 pandemic. Results of this survey, conducted shortly after the neighbourhood-level lockdown on February 15, 2020 and during the first month of the cordon sanitaire, showed that one fifth of respondents in the community and of health professionals reported probable anxiety and probable depression. They found that spending more than two hours daily on COVID-19 news via social media were associated with probable anxiety and depression in community-based adults, while social support was associated with less probable anxiety and depression in both health professionals and community-based adults. This study was published in JMIR Mental Health.

Read more about this paper here:
https://mental.jmir.org/2020/5/e19009/