A substantial percentage of individuals who returned to work during the coronavirus pandemic in China suffered from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to new research published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. But they did not appear to experience more symptoms than the general population.

The study is the first to examine the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms among those who returned to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government of China imposed a lockdown on Chongqing in an effort to contain the coronavirus outbreak on January 31, but began allowing some workers to go back to their jobs in February. For the new study, the researchers surveyed 673 full-time employees (excluding healthcare workers) from Chongqing who received approval from the government to return to work during the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic. The online surveys were completed between February 24 and February 25, 2020.

Despite receiving approval to return, the researchers found that about 27% of the participants were still working at home. Approximately 8% of the participants displayed some clinically significant PTSD-like symptoms, while nearly 11% fit the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. For a comparison, research conducted during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003 found that approximately 20% of healthcare workers showed signs of PTSD.

About 3.8% of participants reported moderate to severe anxiety and 3.7% reported moderate to severe depression. The researchers did not find significant differences between workers/technical staff and managers/executives.

“Our study suggests that the experience of returning to work during the COVID-19 pandemic did not confer an increase in the prevalence of PTSD symptoms, depression, anxiety and stress,” the researchers said, comparing their findings to another recent study of the general population of China that found a significantly higher prevalence of psychiatric symptoms.

The researchers also found that prevention measures such as covering one’s mouth while coughing, wearing face masks, and regularly washing one’s hands were associated with less psychiatric symptoms. Those who worked in organizations that emphasized workplace hygiene and showed concerns for their employees’ health also tended to have less symptoms.

“Our findings shed light on the need for governments and company administrators to be aware of the extent and factors associated with PTSD symptoms, stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia among members of the workforce when they just returned to work after quarantine and lockdown during COVID-19 pandemic,” the researchers concluded.

The study, “Is Returning to Work during the COVID-19 Pandemic Stressful? A Study on Immediate Mental Health Status and Psychoneuroimmunity Prevention Measures of Chinese Workforce“, was authored by Wanqiu Tan, Fengyi Hao, Roger S. McIntyre, Li Jiang, Xiaojiang Jiang, Ling Zhang, Xinling Zhao, Yiran Zou, Yirong Hu, Xi Luo, Zhisong Zhang, Andre Lai, Roger Ho, Bach Tran, Cyrus Ho, and Wilson Tam.