Comparison of Mental Health Status between the Employees in Beverage Factories Participating and Not Participating in the Bubble and Seal Measure in Suratthani Province
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Abstract
Due to the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020, many countries had locked down businesses and traveling which made impacts on personal to international level. As a consequence, the Thai Government implemented the voluntary 'Bubble and Seal' policy to workplaces through the country. However, the mental health impact of such policy on employees is still unknown. To compare mental health status (including depression, anxiety, and stress) between the employees in beverage factories participating and not participating in the Bubble and Seal measure in Suratthani province and to examine factors that may differentially associated with this mental health status between the two employee groups, a cross-sectional analytic study was conducted through questionnaire data collection from 116 and 311 employees in beverage factories participating and not participating in the Bubble and Seal during May and June 2022. The questionnaires consisted of personal demographics, work-related data, and mental health questionnaire DASS-21 Thai version. Data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical statistics including logistic regression. The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress in the participating and non-participating factories were 6.9% versus 5.1%, 8.6% versus 15.1%, and 8.6% versus 5.1% respectively. After controlling for potential confounders, the prevalence of anxiety was significantly higher in the non-participating group compared to the participating factories (OR = 5.31, 95% CI 1.45 - 13.39), while this was not the case for depression and stress. Further analyses showed that, while participating, sex, alcohol drinking, job position, and colleague support were significantly associated with anxiety. This study showed that the voluntary 'Bubble and Seal' policy may be beneficial in alleviating anxiety while not increasing depression or stress prevalence among employees in workplaces participating in such policy.
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