TABLE 1. Mental health symptoms among 26,174 state, tribal, local, and territorial public health workers during the past 2 weeks, by demographic characteristics and work factors — United States, March–April 2021.
| Characteristic | No. | Depression* (n = 22,692†) |
Anxiety* (n = 23,610†) |
PTSD* (n = 22,248†) |
Suicidal ideation (n = 23,317†) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prevalence, % | PR (95% CI) | Prevalence, % | PR (95% CI) | Prevalence, % | PR (95% CI) | Prevalence, % | PR (95% CI) | ||
|
Overall
|
26,174* |
30.8 |
–– |
30.3 |
–– |
36.8 |
–– |
8.4 |
–– |
|
Age group, yrs
| |||||||||
| ≤29 |
3,525 |
40.3 |
2.11 (1.93–2.30) |
44.7 |
2.81 (2.56–3.09) |
47.4 |
2.03 (1.88–2.19) |
13.6 |
2.98 (2.46–3.60) |
| 30–39 |
5,461 |
34.3 |
1.80 (1.65–1.96) |
37.1 |
2.33 (2.12–2.56) |
42.3 |
1.81 (1.68–1.95) |
10.3 |
2.26 (1.87–2.73) |
| 40–49 |
5,102 |
31.4 |
1.64 (1.50–1.80) |
29.1 |
1.83 (1.66–2.01) |
37.3 |
1.60 (1.48–1.73) |
7.5 |
1.65 (1.36–2.01) |
| 50–59 |
4,925 |
27.6 |
1.45 (1.32–1.58) |
23.5 |
1.47 (1.33–1.63) |
32.0 |
1.37 (1.26–1.48) |
6.0 |
1.32 (1.08–1.62) |
| ≥60 |
2,830 |
19.1 |
Ref |
15.9 |
Ref |
23.4 |
Ref |
4.6 |
Ref |
|
Sex
| |||||||||
| Male |
3,904 |
27.1 |
Ref |
24.4 |
Ref |
33.2 |
Ref |
9.9 |
Ref |
| Female |
19,873 |
31.2 |
1.15 (1.09–1.22) |
31.2 |
1.28 (1.20–1.36) |
37.2 |
1.12 (1.07–1.18) |
7.9 |
0.81 (0.72–0.90) |
| Transgender or nonbinary |
147 |
61.9 |
2.29 (1.98–2.64) |
61.1 |
2.21 (1.88–2.59) |
65.5 |
1.97 (1.74–2.24) |
30.4 |
3.10 (2.37–4.06) |
|
Race/Ethnicity
| |||||||||
| Hispanic |
1,974 |
30.0 |
0.95 (0.89–1.03) |
29.9 |
0.95 (0.89–1.02) |
37.5 |
1.01 (0.95–1.07) |
9.9 |
1.20 (1.03–1.39) |
| AI/AN, NH |
156 |
35.8 |
1.14 (0.92–1.41) |
32.7 |
1.04 (0.83–1.31) |
41.6 |
1.12 (0.92–1.35) |
7.3 |
0.89 (0.50–1.57) |
| Asian, NH |
1,009 |
28.3 |
0.90 (0.81–1.00) |
27.6 |
0.88 (0.79–0.98) |
38.3 |
1.03 (0.94–1.12) |
10.1 |
1.22 (1.00–1.49) |
| Black, NH |
2,177 |
24.4 |
0.77 (0.71–0.84) |
21.7 |
0.69 (0.64–0.75) |
29.8 |
0.80 (0.75–0.86) |
6.5 |
0.79 (0.67–0.94) |
| NH/PI, NH |
96 |
26.5 |
0.84 (0.59–1.21) |
22.2 |
0.71 (0.48–1.04) |
25.3 |
0.68 (0.47–0.98) |
11.1 |
1.34 (0.75–2.42) |
| White, NH |
17,218 |
31.5 |
Ref |
31.4 |
Ref |
37.2 |
Ref |
8.3 |
Ref |
| Multiple races, NH |
614 |
39.6 |
1.26 (1.14–1.39) |
37.2 |
1.19 (1.07–1.32) |
43.4 |
1.17 (1.06–1.28) |
12.1 |
1.46 (1.17–1.83) |
|
Highest educational degree attained
| |||||||||
| Less than bachelor’s |
5,386 |
31.0 |
Ref |
27.1 |
Ref |
30.1 |
Ref |
6.5 |
Ref |
| Bachelor’s |
9,180 |
31.4 |
1.01 (0.96–1.07) |
30.6 |
1.13 (1.07–1.20) |
36.8 |
1.22 (1.16–1.29) |
9.1 |
1.40 (1.24–1.59) |
| Graduate |
9,375 |
30.4 |
0.98 (0.93–1.04) |
32.0 |
1.18 (1.12–1.25) |
40.7 |
1.35 (1.29–1.42) |
8.9 |
1.37 (1.22–1.56) |
|
Hrs worked per wk
| |||||||||
| ≤40 |
9,993 |
23.5 |
Ref |
24.4 |
Ref |
27.3 |
Ref |
7.6 |
Ref |
| 41–60 |
11,466 |
33.3 |
1.42 (1.35–1.48) |
32.3 |
1.32 (1.26–1.38) |
40.4 |
1.48 (1.42–1.54) |
8.4 |
1.10 (1.00–1.21) |
| >60 |
3,018 |
45.6 |
1.94 (1.84–2.05) |
41.6 |
1.70 (1.61–1.80) |
54.2 |
1.99 (1.89–2.08) |
11.0 |
1.44 (1.27–1.63) |
|
% of time spent on COVID–19 response activities
| |||||||||
| None |
1,787 |
22.5 |
Ref |
23.0 |
Ref |
22.3 |
Ref |
7.6 |
Ref |
| 1–25 |
5,151 |
23.6 |
1.05 (0.95–1.17) |
23.5 |
1.02 (0.92–1.13) |
24.3 |
1.09 (0.98–1.21) |
7.5 |
0.99 (0.82–1.21) |
| 26–50 |
3,432 |
27.6 |
1.23 (1.11–1.37) |
26.7 |
1.16 (1.05–1.29) |
31.6 |
1.42 (1.28–1.57) |
8.4 |
1.12 (0.91–1.37) |
| 51–75 |
3,283 |
30.6 |
1.36 (1.23–1.51) |
30.6 |
1.33 (1.20–1.47) |
37.0 |
1.66 (1.50–1.84) |
8.6 |
1.14 (0.93–1.40) |
| ≥76 |
10,620 |
36.9 |
1.64 (1.50–1.81) |
35.9 |
1.56 (1.42–1.71) |
47.0 |
2.11 (1.92–2.32) |
8.9 |
1.18 (0.99–1.41) |
|
Can take time off from work
| |||||||||
| Yes |
13,507 |
22.6 |
Ref |
23.0 |
Ref |
27.9 |
Ref |
6.2 |
Ref |
| No | 8,586 | 44.1 | 1.95 (1.87–2.03) | 42.4 | 1.85 (1.77–1.92) | 51.5 | 1.84 (1.78–1.91) | 12.0 | 1.92 (1.76–2.10) |
Abbreviations: AI/AN = American Indian or Alaska Native; CI = confidence interval; IES-6 = 6-item Impact of Event Scale; GAD-2 = General Anxiety Disorder; NH = non-Hispanic; NH/PI = Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander; PHQ-9 = 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire; PR = prevalence ratio; PTSD = post-traumatic stress disorder; Ref = referent group.
* Symptoms of mental health conditions were scored and categorized by severity. Respondents who scored ≥10.0 out of 27 on the PHQ-9 for depression, ≥3.0 out of 6 on the GAD-2 for anxiety, or ≥1.75 out of 4 on the IES-6 for PTSD were considered symptomatic for the respective conditions. Respondents who indicated that they would be better off dead or thought of hurting themselves at any time in the past 2 weeks were categorized as experiencing suicidal ideation.
† Some categories might not sum to 26,174 because of missing data. Denominators for categories are respondents who answered the questions to be scored.