Abstract

Perceived discrimination and work impairment are commonly observed in COVID-19 survivors, but their relationship has not been well understood. We aimed to evaluate the role of discrimination in the development of psychological distress and work impairment in COVID-19 survivors. From April 2020 to November 2021, 309 patients were recruited at two designated COVID-19 hospitals in Japan. Participants completed a standardized questionnaire including COVID-19 sequelae, psychological distress, impairments in work performance and perceived discrimination. The majority of participants (62.5%) experienced one or more COVID-19 sequelae. Psychological distress was observed in 36.9% and work impairment in 37.9%. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, COVID-19 sequelae and discrimination were associated with both psychological distress and work impairment. Mediation analysis demonstrated that the direct effect of sequelae on work impairment was non-significant after accounting for psychological distress, suggesting that the effect of sequelae on work impairment was mainly mediated through psychological distress. These findings were replicated in a subgroup analysis limited to patients with mild COVID-19. We conclude that discrimination plays an important role in the development of psychological distress and work impairment, and that both discrimination and psychological distress should be targets of intervention in COVID-19 survivors.

Details

Title
The role of discrimination in the relation between COVID-19 sequelae, psychological distress, and work impairment in COVID-19 survivors
Author
Ishii, Shinya 1 ; Sugiyama, Aya 2 ; Ito, Noriaki 3 ; Miwata, Kei 3 ; Kitahara, Yoshihiro 3 ; Okimoto, Mafumi 3 ; Kurisu, Akemi 2 ; Abe, Kanon 2 ; Imada, Hirohito 2 ; Akita, Tomoyuki 2 ; Kubo, Tatsuhiko 4 ; Nagasawa, Akira 5 ; Nakanishi, Toshio 5 ; Takafuta, Toshiro 3 ; Kuwabara, Masao 6 ; Tanaka, Junko 2 

 Hiroshima University, Department of Medicine for Integrated Approach to Social Inclusion, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Japan (GRID:grid.257022.0) (ISNI:0000 0000 8711 3200) 
 Hiroshima University, Department of Epidemiology, Infectious Disease Control and Prevention, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Japan (GRID:grid.257022.0) (ISNI:0000 0000 8711 3200) 
 Hiroshima City Funairi Citizens Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan (GRID:grid.257022.0) 
 Hiroshima University, Department of Public Health and Health Policy, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima, Japan (GRID:grid.257022.0) (ISNI:0000 0000 8711 3200) 
 Miyoshi Central Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan (GRID:grid.257022.0) 
 Hiroshima Prefectural Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hiroshima, Japan (GRID:grid.257022.0) 
Pages
22218
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2757232411
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2022. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.