Comparison of Psychological Stress Levels and Associated Factors Among Healthcare Workers, Frontline Workers, and the General Public During the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic

Objective: We aimed to conduct a comparative analysis of the psychological stress experienced by healthcare workers, frontline workers, and the general public and to assess the factors associated with psychological stress in each of these groups. Methods: We conducted an online survey targeting healthcare workers, frontline workers, and the general public. Psychological stress was assessed with the revised impact of event scale (IES-R). Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results: We surveyed 1,336 participants (64.6% female; mean age, 36.6). The occupation group distribution of respondents was 50.7% healthcare workers, 27.2% frontline workers, and 22.1% general public. The healthcare (23.6 ± 15.8) and frontline (23.6 ± 17.8) workers had higher IES-R scores than the general public (15.3 ± 10.6; p < 0.01). Poor health perception and perception of infection avoidance were associated with psychological stress in the healthcare and frontline workers, but not in the general public. Conclusion: Both healthcare and frontline workers are suffering elevated psychological stress, compared to the general public, and this elevated stress may be related especially to their perceptions of their own health and infection risk. Interventions addressing these factors should be developed to alleviate psychological stress in these populations, and thus reduce their risk of mental illness pathogenesis.