Community Mobility and Depressive Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

Importance Marked elevation in levels of depressive symptoms compared with historical norms have been described during the COVID-19 pandemic, and understanding the extent to which these are associated with diminished in-person social interaction could inform public health planning for future pandemics or other disasters. Objective To describe the association between living in a US county with diminished mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic and self-reported depressive symptoms, while accounting for potential local and state-level confounding factors. Design, Setting, and Participants This survey study used 18 waves of a nonprobability internet survey conducted in the United States between May 2020 and April 2022. Participants included respondents who were 18 years and older and lived in 1 of the 50 US states or Washington DC. Main Outcome and Measure Depressive symptoms measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9); county-level community mobility estimates from mobile apps; COVID-19 policies at the US state level from the Oxford stringency index. Results The 192 271 survey respondents had a mean (SD) of age 43.1 (16.5) years, and 768 (0.4%) were American Indian or Alaska Native individuals, 11 448 (6.0%) were Asian individuals, 20 277 (10.5%) were Black individuals, 15 036 (7.8%) were Hispanic individuals, 1975 (1.0%) were Pacific Islander individuals, 138 702 (72.1%) were White individuals, and 4065 (2.1%) were individuals of another race. Additionally, 126 381 respondents (65.7%) identified as female and 65 890 (34.3%) as male. Mean (SD) depression severity by PHQ-9 was 7.2 (6.8). In a mixed-effects linear regression model, the mean county-level proportion of individuals not leaving home was associated with a greater level of depression symptoms (β, 2.58; 95% CI, 1.57-3.58) after adjustment for individual sociodemographic features. Results were similar after the inclusion in regression models of local COVID-19 activity, weather, and county-level economic features, and persisted after widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccination. They were attenuated by the inclusion of state-level pandemic restrictions. Two restrictions, mandatory mask-wearing in public (β, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.15-0.30) and policies cancelling public events (β, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.22-0.51), demonstrated modest independent associations with depressive symptom severity. Conclusions and Relevance In this study, depressive symptoms were greater in locales and times with diminished community mobility. Strategies to understand the potential public health consequences of pandemic responses are needed

The COVID States Project #1: A 50-state COVID-19 Survey Report

THE STATE OF THE NATION: A 50-STATE COVID-19 SURVEY Report #1 https://covidstates.org/ From: The COVID-19 Consortium for Understanding the Public’s Policy Preferences Across States From April 17 to 26 we conducted a large, 50 state survey, the results of which are presented in this report. The first section of the report looks at the nation as a whole while the second section focuses on individual states and comparisons across states

The COVID States Project #1: A 50-state COVID-19 Survey Report

THE STATE OF THE NATION: A 50-STATE COVID-19 SURVEY Report #1 https://covidstates.org/ From: The COVID-19 Consortium for Understanding the Public’s Policy Preferences Across States From April 17 to 26 we conducted a large, 50 state survey, the results of which are presented in this report. The first section of the report looks at the nation as a whole while the second section focuses on individual states and comparisons across states.</p

Nurse migration in the EU: a moving target?

The nursing profession is the most numerous and increasingly mobile element of the health workforce. Imbalances of nurse supply and demand across the EU/EEA are generating challenges for policy-makers and managers. Increasing mobility within the EU/EEA has been caused by countries targeting others within the region to fill nursing vacancy posts, although the number of nurses is finite. Data from two studies on migration to the English National Health Service are analysed to provoke a more informed debate on the increasing complexity of migration in the current EU/EEA agenda and the possible consequences for the supply of the nursing workforce.publishersversionpublishe

Knowledge Sharing is Power

Knowledge management (KM), K-Government (knowledge-based government), Social networking, Global warming, Chinese energy demand, I20, Q54, Q40,