Factors influencing sleep quality in healthcare workers: The mediating role of depression and anxiety symptoms

Background Numerous research has investigated the impact of depression and anxiety symptoms, occupational stress, work hours on sleep quality. Nevertheless, the interrelationships between these variables remain poorly understood. Objective The objective of this study is to examine the factors that influence sleep quality, to elucidate the relationships between them and to examine the extent to which depressive and anxiety symptoms act as mediators in the aforementioned relationships. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted to obtain information about medical personnel in Chongqing, China. The Depressive Symptom Scale, Anxiety Symptom Scale and Sleep Quality Scale developed by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention were used to assess the status of depression, anxiety and sleep quality, respectively. Structural equation modeling was employed to investigate the factors that influence sleep quality. Results The detection rate of poor sleep quality among healthcare workers in Chongqing was 57.9%, analyzed by structural equation modeling, the direct effects of anxiety and depressive symptoms on sleep quality were −0.328, −0.221 and fully mediated the relationship between socio-economic status, weekly working hours and occupational tension and sleep quality. Social support, demands and payments had higher effects on sleep quality of −0.167, −0.176 respectively. Conclusions The factors affecting sleep quality were identified as weekly working hours, working age, socioeconomic status, and occupational tension. The sub-dimensions of occupational tension that played a decisive role were social support, demands, and payments. The association between the aforementioned variables and sleep quality was fully mediated by depression and anxiety symptoms.