Psychological Status of Men Who Have Sex with Men during COVID-19: An Online Cross-Sectional Study in Western China

作者全名："Lin, Bing; Liu, Jiaxiu; He, Wei; Pan, Haiying; Zhong, Xiaoni"

作者地址："[Lin, Bing; He, Wei; Pan, Haiying; Zhong, Xiaoni] Chongqing Med Univ, Sch Publ Hlth, Chongqing 400016, Peoples R China; [Lin, Bing; He, Wei; Pan, Haiying; Zhong, Xiaoni] Res Ctr Med & Social Dev, Chongqing 400010, Peoples R China; [Liu, Jiaxiu] Chongqing Med Univ, Sch Med Informat, Chongqing 400016, Peoples R China"

通信作者："Zhong, XN (通讯作者)，Chongqing Med Univ, Sch Publ Hlth, Chongqing 400016, Peoples R China.; Zhong, XN (通讯作者)，Res Ctr Med & Social Dev, Chongqing 400010, Peoples R China."

来源：INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH

ESI学科分类：ENVIRONMENT/ECOLOGY

WOS号：WOS:000917478500001

JCR分区：Q2

影响因子：4.614

年份：2023

卷号：20

期号：2

开始页：　

结束页：　

文献类型：Article

关键词：COVID-19; psychological status; MSM; PQEEPH; China

摘要："Background: The psychological status of men who have sex with men (MSM) as a vulnerable population during COVID-19 is worthy of attention. However, studies of Chinese MSM are limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychological status and influencing factors of MSM population and to provide a scientific basis for this group to actively respond to public health emergencies. Methods: From June to September 2020, we conducted an online survey. MSMs were recruited through collaboration with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and peer recommendations. The variables we collected included four aspects: demographic and HIV-related characteristics; COVID-19-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors; COVID-19-related risk perception; epidemic exposure. The psychological status was assessed by the Psychological Questionnaire for Emergent Events of Public Health (PQEEPH), which defined the psychological status as five primary disorders: depression, neurasthenia, fear, anxiety, and hypochondria. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore the influences of COVID-19-related factors on the psychological status. Results: We surveyed 412 MSM online during COVID-19. The five psychological status of high-risk states accounted for 16.99% (depression), 14.08% (neurasthenia), 16.75% (fear), 16.50% (anxiety), and 18.20% (hypochondria), respectively. Not being well-informed about the causes of COVID-19 (p = 0.020) and having experienced epidemic exposure (p = 0.006) were able to promote the occurrence of depression. Lack of knowledge of the curative effect of COVID-19 has a higher risk of occurrence neurasthenia (p < 0.001). Being afraid of the novel coronavirus (p < 0.001) promoted fear. The perceived prevalence of the epidemic (p = 0.003), being more susceptible to COVID-19 (p < 0.001), and not being well-informed about the causes of COVID-19 (p = 0.005) had a positive effect on anxiety. Considering that the epidemic was not effectively controlled (p = 0.017), being more susceptible to COVID-19 (p < 0.001) was a contributing factor to the hypochondria. Conclusions: The incidence of psychological disorders in Chinese MSM was higher than that in other groups during COVID-19. Factors associated with COVID-19 may cause a range of mental health problems in this population. Greater attention should be paid to the mental health status of special populations during the epidemic, and effective preventive education and intervention measures should be taken."

基金机构："National Key Project for Infectious Diseases of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China [2012ZX10001007-007, 2018ZX10721102-005]"

基金资助正文：This work was supported by the National Key Project for Infectious Diseases of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2012ZX10001007-007 and 2018ZX10721102-005).