Subjective well-being among medical staff: capturing mental health outcomes using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale

Abstract

Background: There is growing awareness of the importance of subjective well-being (SWB) in the general population and specific groups. The mental health of medical staff influences the quality of their treatment. We performed this study to explore the SWB of medical staff using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS).Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we surveyed medical staff at several hospitals in China. We recorded demographics and the WEMWBS from a cross-sectional online multicenter survey from May 15 to July 15, 2020. Univariate analysis and structural equation modeling were used to identify factors correlated with the SWB among medical staff.Results: A total of 572 respondents completed the questionnaires. The mean age was 34.18 ± 6.36 years (21 to 55 years). The mean WEMWBS was 38.47 ± 13.23 (standard deviation = 13.23; 95% confidence interval 37.45 to 39.61). The factors influencing SWB were age, marital status, religious status, job type, daily working hours, number of night shifts per week, daily fruit and vegetable consumption, weekly exercise duration, self-reported personality type, general health status, and health status compared with one year before (P＜0.05).Conclusions: The medical staff's SWB level was lower than occupational groups. These data provide a baseline for future research in this area, especially for promoting SWB. More attention should be paid to improving SWB among medical staff.