Review of possible psychological impacts of COVID-19 on frontline medical staff and reduction strategies

Table 1 Study characteristics

No.	Ref.	Country	C	Participants	Measures
1	McAlonan et al[1]	Hong Kong	Questionnaires	2003: 176; 2004: 184	2003: PSS-10 to measure perceived stress; 2004: PSS-10, DASS-21 to measure depression and anxiety, and IES-R to measure posttraumatic stress
2	Tam et al[2]	Hong Kong	Questionnaires	1621	The General Health Questionnaire was used to identify psychological distress
3	Su et al[3]	Taiwan	Prospective and periodic follow-up design study	70	BDI to identify cases of symptomatic depression; STAI to identify anxiety; Insomnia and PSQI to identify sleep disturbance
4	Chan et al[4]	Singapore	Questionnaires	993	GHQ-28 to detect psychiatric cases; IES to assess PTSD symptoms
5	Wu et al[5]	China	Questionnaires	549	IES-R to assess PTS symptoms
6	Goulia et al[6]	Greece	Questionnaires	469	Questionnaire (part-I) and the GHQ-28 to assess HCWs psychological distress
7	Chong et al[7]	Taiwan	Questionnaires	1257	IES to assess the frequency of intrusive and avoidant phenomena in response to a specific stressful life event; CHQ–12 to assess psychiatric morbidity
8	Wu et al[8]	China	Questionnaires	662	IES-R to assess PTS symptoms; CES-D to measure depression; Questionnaires
9	Hong et al[9]	China	Follow-up interviews	70	IES to assess symptoms of intrusive thoughts and avoidance resulting from traumatic life events. SAS and SDS to assess symptoms of depression and anxiety; SCL-90 to screen for psychopathological symptoms; SF-36 to assess health function and SDSS to access the function in a variety of occupational, social, marital, and family roles
10	Mok et al[10]	Hong Kong	Face-to-face or telephone interviews	10	A semistructured interview, qualitative approach
11	Phua et al[11]	Singapore	Questionnaires	124	COPE to assess coping strategies, IES to measure psychological reactions and GHQ-28 to measure psychiatric morbidity
12	Styra et al[12]	Toronto	Questionnaires	248	Event Scale-Revised to screen for PTSS
13	Chan et al[15]	Hong Kong	Questionnaires	A total of 8 of the 42 Hong Kong public hospitals	χ2 statistics to examine
					The association between nurses’ perceived
					Stress from SARS and their corresponding
					Perceived health status during the SARS epidemic
14	Kim et al[18]	Seoul and in Kyung-gi province	Questionnaires	679	Questionnaires
15	Aiello et al[19]	Toronto	Questionnaires	1250	Questionnaires
16	Maunder et al[21]	Toronto	Structured interviews	1984	IES, K10, and MBI-EE to measure demographic and job data as well as traumatic stress response
17	Lee et al[24]	Taiwan	Questionnaires	26	Questionnaires

PSS-10: Perceived stress scale; DASS-21: 21-item depression and anxiety scale; IES-R: Impact of events scale-revised; IES: Impact of event scale; SAS: Zung self-rating anxiety scale; SDS: Zung self-rating depression scale; SCL-90: Symptom checklist 90; SF-36: Short form-36; SDSS: Social disability screening schedule; COPE: Coping orientation to problems experienced; GHQ: General health questionnaire; PTSD: Posttraumatic stress disorder; PTS: Post-traumatic stress; SARS: Severe acute respiratory syndrome; K10: Kessler psychological distress scale; MBI-EE: Emotional exhaustion scale of the Maslach burnout inventory.