Background Firefighters are routinely exposed to occupational stress and are therefore vulnerable to psychological problems. Patients and Methods This study assessed the prevalence of mental health symptoms and potential contributing factors in a sample of firefighters in Shantou city, in the Guangdong Province of China. We conducted a cross-sectional survey with 335 firefighters, including 329 male and 6 female firefighters. We used a questionnaire which assessed anxiety and depression, as indicated by the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), as well as other mental health symptoms, using the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90). Basic information and potential-related factors were also collected. Results The average age of participants was 27.38 (SD ± 6.11) years. Assessed by the indexed score of different scales, SAS and SDS positive screening rates were 6.86% and 22.68%, respectively. SCL-90 scores indicated that 6.86% of participants had mental health symptoms. Logistic regression analysis showed that educational level, firefighter rank, and birth order were associated with mental health outcomes. Firefighters in Shantou were also shown to have better mental health outcomes than the Chinese military, but worse than the national population of firefighters. Conclusion These findings indicated the mental health of firefighters is not good. It is necessary to explore effective approaches to help preventing and treating mental disorder in firefighters.
Background Unprecedented public health measures have been implemented to combat the pandemic outbreak of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in China. The purpose of this research is to identify people’s perception of quarantine during the COVID-19 Methods Semi-structured interviews with 30 participants were conducted, including 15 people who had been quarantined and 15 participants who had not been quarantined during the COVID-19 outbreak in Shantou, Southern China. Interview data were collected from February to March 2020. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcribed data were coded and analyzed to identify key themes. Results Four key themes concerning public health measures emerged: 1) A city-wide lockdown effectively aroused the public’s awareness of the seriousness of COVID-19, which was helpful for controlling the pandemic; however, it greatly impacted the economy and individuals’ way of life. 2) Hotel quarantine was an effective measure for medical observations. 3) Fear and lack of knowledge of quarantine were the main factors that affected quarantine compliance. 4) Less attention was paid to people’s mental health during the pandemic outbreak. Conclusions A lockdown and centralized hotel quarantines were effective ways to control the outbreak. Mandatory measures were highly supported. The media should educate the public about COVID-19. Psychological counseling is necessary for people who were quarantined long-term. The findings have implications for other countries and for emerging infectious diseases in the future.
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