During the epidemic, what is the mental health status of medical staff in the COVID-19 ward and non-COVID-19 ward? Recently, a research paper analyzing the mental health status of the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University and related affiliated hospitals of Soochow University was withdrawn.

On November 22, 2022, the international academic journal "Psychology Research and Behavior Management" (Psychology Research and Behavior Management) issued a retraction statement stating that at the request of the author, the paper was withdrawn due to unreliable conclusions. Qin Geng (Geng Deqin) and Soochow University Institute of Neuroscience Xing-Shun Xu (Xu Xingshun) are co-corresponding authors of a research paper.

The retraction statement published on November 22 in the international academic journal "Psychological Research and Behavior Management".

The title of the paper is "Psychotherapy and Follow-Up in Health Care Workers After the COVID-19 Epidemic: A Single Center's Experience".

The paper was published more than three months ago, on August 18, 2022. The signed authors are Hao Chen, Qing Ma, Bo Du, Yan Huang, Shi-Guang Zhu, Sheng-Li Li, De-Qin Geng, Xing-Shun Xu.

The corresponding authors of the paper are De-Qin Geng and Xing-Shun Xu. Among them, the signing unit of De-Qin Geng is the Department of Neurology of the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, and the signing unit of Xing-Shun Xu is the Department of Neurology of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, the Institute of Neuroscience of Soochow University, and the research key of major neuropsychiatric diseases in Jiangsu Province laboratory.

The above-mentioned retraction statement stated that at the request of the author, the journal editorial department and the publisher wish to withdraw the above-mentioned published article. After the paper was published, the authors concluded that the findings they reported were no longer reliable. “Specifically, the authors designed and used inaccurate job stress and job risk scales during the study, leading to inconsistent reporting by participants. The authors also found that the study recruited a small number of participants, which led to inconsistent reporting. Statistical differences in anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and sleep before psychotherapy were variable. In addition, the authors did not take into account the past medical history of the participants, making their reported results and subsequent findings even more inconsistent. The authors request a retraction article, the editor agreed with this decision. The authors apologize for any inconvenience caused." "The retracted article will remain on the web to preserve the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page and displayed as 'Withdrawn'."

On December 2, according to the confirmation of the staff of relevant departments of Xuzhou Medical University, the contact information of the corresponding author De-Qin Geng was indeed that of Geng Deqin, chief physician of the Department of Neurology of the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University.

According to the official website of the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Geng Deqin is the chief physician and professor of the Department. He is an "Outstanding Contribution Expert" of the Stroke Prevention Project of the National Health Commission, a member of the Expert Committee of the Stroke Prevention Project of the National Health Commission, the first member of the China Stroke Specialty Alliance, a member of the Yangtze River Delta Cerebrovascular Disease Specialty Alliance, and the Department of Neurology of the Jiangsu Medical Doctor Association. Vice President of the Branch, Chief Physician, Secondary Professor, Doctoral Supervisor of the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University (Nanjing Medical University and Xuzhou Medical University), Postdoctoral Cooperative Supervisor; Vice President of the Affiliated Hospital Brain Hospital, Cerebrovascular Disease Interventional Diagnosis and Treatment Center Deputy Director, Director of Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Director of Department of Neurology; editor-in-chief of 15 monographs and textbooks such as "Modern Diagnosis and Treatment" and "Neurology Clinical Doctor's Order Manual".

On December 2, The Paper learned from relevant departments of Soochow University that the contact information of the corresponding author Xing-Shun Xu was indeed that of Professor Xu Xingshun of the Institute of Neuroscience of the school. He previously worked in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University.

According to the first member list of the Neurogenetics and Related Diseases Group of the Neurology Branch of the Jiangsu Medical Association released on the official website of the Jiangsu Medical Association in 2016, the deputy leader is "Xu Xingshun, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University".

According to the official website of the Institute of Neuroscience of Soochow University, Xu Xingshun is the chief physician, professor, doctoral supervisor, and project leader of major research and development projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology. He graduated from East Tennessee State University School of Medicine in 2007 with a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences. In March 2010, he joined the Neuroscience Institute of Soochow University. His research directions are: mechanism of depression, clinical risk factor analysis and treatment research of stroke, and neurogenetic research.

According to the official website of the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Xu Xingshun, chief physician, professor, and doctoral supervisor of the Department of Neurology of the hospital, is on the editorial board of Neurotoxicity Research, Scientific Reports, Frontiers in Neurology and other journals.

The paper involved stated that through follow-up, the mental health status of high-risk medical staff (HHCW) who had been exposed to COVID-19 wards and low-risk medical staff who had been exposed to non-COVID-19 wards was analyzed. 198 medical staff participated in the study, and a total of 168 questionnaires were selected for evaluation. Among them, 93 were in the HHCW group, accounting for 55.4%; 75 were in the LHCW group, accounting for 44.5%. There were significant differences in salary, occupation and altruistic behavior between the two groups of subjects (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in anxiety, depression, insomnia, or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) scores between the two groups. Logistic regression revealed that job stress was a major common risk factor for mental disorders among healthcare workers. A total of 58 of all health care workers participated in psychotherapy voluntarily; the analysis showed that anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, work stress and work risk were significantly reduced after participating in psychotherapy. There were also significant differences in positive and negative coping styles before and after psychotherapy. The conclusion of the paper is: in the current follow-up, work pressure is the main factor leading to the mental disorders of medical staff. Psychotherapy can help with stress management and should be offered to front-line COVID-19 healthcare workers.

However, that paper has now been retracted.