Question . Component 1: The source of the research and of the funding
The researchers involved in this research have acknowledged that the funding for the project came from the National Key R&D Program of China as well as the National Natural Science Foundation of China. In addition to this disclosure, the researchers have declared that there are no known financial interests or personal relationships in competition that may have influenced the research that they have conducted and reported in this article.
Component 2: The researchers who had contact with the participants
The researchers who had contact with the participant are as follows: Ci Ma, Lijun Kang, Simeng Ma, Bing Xiang Yang, Zhogchun Liu, Zhongxiang Cai, Hanping Bai, Min Chen, Jun Yang, Ying Wang, Ruiting Li, and Lihua Yao.
Component 3: The individuals or objects studied and how they were selected.
The researchers involved in this study recruited doctors or nurses working in high-exposure units such as emergency departments, isolation wards, and intensive care units in Wuhan from the month of January 29-February 4, 2020. The individuals were selected through a website called Wenjuanxing where participants were provided with self-rating questionnaires distributed over the “Work stations” on the website. The website provided a close-ended question (Yes or No) in its informed consent page. Only participants who responded with ‘Yes’ were permitted to proceed to the page where they would fill out the questionnaire and participants had the option of quitting the interview at their discretion.
Component 4: The exact nature of the measurements made or questions asked
Four scales of measurements were used in determining the mental health status of medical and nursing staff. The tools used are as follows: A 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), the 7-item Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and the 22-item Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) were used in evaluating anxiety, depression, distress and insomnia. In addition to these measuring scales, medical and nursing staff were asked to answer the following questions:
1. “Have you been diagnosed with COVID-19? Do you manage patients diagnosed with COVID-19?”
2. “Has your family been diagnosed with COVID-19? Have your friends been diagnosed? Have your neighbours (people living in the same community who may or may not know each other) been diagnosed?”
3. “Participants were asked whether there was anyone living with them with suspected symptoms. The answer to each question was yes or no.”
4. “Have you ever received the following services: psychological materials (leaflets, brochures and books provided by mental health workers and distributed to staff in the hospital), psychological resources available through media (psychological assistance methods and techniques provided by psychologists through online media or TV news or various online platforms), and counselling or psychotherapy (including individual or group therapy)?”
5. “What kind of mental health service content were participants most interested in, who were they interested in receiving this care from and what resources did they anticipate to receive?”
6. “How do you perceive your current health status compared to your health status before the outbreak? (answer options included getting better, almost unchanged, worse, or much worse).”
