MedicineAug 15, 2020

Anxiety and related factors in frontline nurses caring for COVID-19 patients in Wuhan

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Apr 5, 2026

Abstract

Among 176 frontline clinical nurses treating COVID-19 in Wuhan, 77.3% experienced anxiety.

The average anxiety score was 17.1 ± 8.1, indicating significant anxiety levels among the nurses.
Anxiety symptoms were classified as mild to moderate in 27.3% and severe in 25% of the participants.
Factors such as sex, age, marital status, length of service, and clinical working time against COVID-19 were associated with anxiety.
Psychological care guidance, counseling, and social support may be necessary to alleviate the mental burden on these nurses.
Adjustments to nursing human resources may be needed based on the specific realities of each province.

Simplified

The aim of this study was to examine the anxiety status of the frontline clinical nurses in the designated hospitals for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan and to analyze the influencing factors, to provide data for psychologic nursing.This study used a cross-sectional survey design and convenience sampling. The questionnaires were completed by 176 frontline clinical nurses. Anxiety was determined using the . General data were collected using a survey. Correlation analyses were used.Among the 176 frontline nurses, 77.3% (136/176) had anxiety. The anxiety scores of the frontline clinical nurse fighting COVID-19 were 17.1 ± 8.1. Anxiety symptoms, mild to moderate anxiety symptoms, and severe anxiety symptoms were found in 27.3%, 25%, and 25% of the nurses, respectively. Sex, age, marital status, length of service, and clinical working time against COVID-19 were associated with anxiety (P < .05).The frontline nurses working in the designated hospitals for the treatment of COVID-19 in Wuhan had serious anxiety. Sex, age, length of service, and clinical working time against COVID-19 were associated with anxiety in those nurses. Psychologic care guidance, counseling, and social support should be provided to the nurses to reduce their physical and mental burden. Nursing human resources in each province should be adjusted according to each province's reality.

Key numbers

136 of 176

Anxiety Prevalence

Percentage of nurses experiencing anxiety symptoms.

17.1

Average Anxiety Score

Mean score on the .

44 of 176

Severe Anxiety Symptoms

Number of nurses with severe anxiety symptoms.

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Funding

Competing interests

The authors have no funding and conflicts of interest to disclose.

PubMed

Anxiety and related factors in frontline nurses caring for COVID-19 patients in Wuhan

Abstract

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