The concept of health proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) is not only the absence of disease, but also comprised of the physical, psychological and social integrity [5-6]. Sub-health is a dynamic state that can lead to individual self-perceived decline of physical function, psychological function, and social adaptation function in varying degrees, without reaching any diagnostic criteria [7-8]. The sub-health state can cause many harms and seriously affect the quality of people's life and work. If no active intervention measures are taken, the sub-health state will cause long-term and hidden damage to the body, eventually leading to the occurrence of diseases [9]. Based on the WHO definition of health, Xu Jun and others proposed the operational definition of sub-health [4], and conducted rigorous demonstrations through the Delphi expert consultation method [10], item analysis and item screening [4] and other methods, and 39 sub-health evaluations were finally selected. Then the first version of the SHMS V1.0 suitable for China’s cultural background and social values was developed. This questionnaire has fewer entries, is easy to understand, and the survey is easy to carry out, with relatively high reliability and validity [11-15], which provides an effective measurement tool for the determination of sub-health status.
Due to work intensity (physiological dimension), disease with high RO value and other unknown risks (psychological pressure), changes in personal and family life events of team members (social dimension), etc., we believe that while carrying out front-line treatment work, we also urgently need to pay attention to the health status of the medical team members aiding Wuhan. For this reason, we performed a preliminary study and found that the overall score of the sub-health assessment scale for the medical team aiding Wuhan Army was (69.11±10.20) points, and the scores of the three subscales were: physiological subscale scores (71.16±11.30) points, psychological subscale scores (67.99±13.51) and the score of the social subscale (67.41±12.31), which indicates that these medical staff are generally at a moderate sub-health level.
Many reports have shown that in the face of the invisible and intangible virus, the fear of the medical staff aiding Wuhan comes from the pneumonia infection or even death that may occur around them at any time. Coupled with irregular daily routine, the phenomenon of sub-health is generally not optimistic. Zhang Wei and others have investigated 155 first-line medical staff in Anhui Province during the COVID-19 outbreak, and found that the incidence of psychological stress among medical staff assisting Wuhan was relatively high [16]. In another study, Chen Xia found that the mental health of medical staff from Xinjiang aiding Wuhan who worked in the quarantine area for 5-8 hours per day was more severely affected [17].
Through single-factor and multi-factor analysis, it is found that women’s mental sub-health level is significantly lower than that of men. This is similar to the results of most studies [18-19]. This may be due to women’s physical characteristics and the burden of complexity from their multiple social roles, the resulting social and family pressures and more negative events have caused reduced women’s health affected by many factors. Therefore, more health attention should be paid to women. Xiangdong Yuan et al. have concluded that the higher the education level, the less optimistic the sub-health status [20]. This study also found that the sub-health status of medical workers assisting Wuhan with different education levels also has significant differences, i.e. the higher the education level, the more serious the sub-health status is. This may be related to factors such as long-term sedentary study, infrequent participation in exercise, and greater academic pressure in high educated workers. Moreover, studies have shown that unhappiness in married life, divorce/widowed, etc. lead to decreased marriage satisfaction and mental health problems [21]. In this study, compared with unmarried and divorced, health status in those married, widowed, and unmarried cohabitation is more serious, which may be related to the smaller family responsibilities of unmarried and divorced people. It is suggested that maintaining good family relationships, understanding each other among members, and balancing life and working hours play important roles in maintaining family harmony.
The sub-health status of the medical staff who feel more work pressure is more serious than the staff who feel normal or less work pressure, indicating that the pressure has a certain impact on the sub-health status. Thus one should learn psychological counseling methods or talk to colleagues to relieve stress, at the same time, active participation in entertainment activities and group activities of hospitals or social organizations will help maintain a good mental state at all times. The sub-health level of only children is significantly higher than that of non-only children, and the sub-health level of central families is also significantly higher than that of extended families, indicating that family factors can impact sub-health. Some studies have found that negative event experiences can cause individuals to experience emotions such as restlessness, depression, and anxiety, which increase psychological pressure, endanger the healthy development physically and mentally, and even lead to anxiety, depression and tumors if they are affected by negative emotions for a long time [22-23].
In this study, all of frustration, betrayal, and children’s education problems can reduce the sub-health level. These negative events in life often make people feel depressed, and therefore they will be physically, psychologically, and socially adaptable.Good hobbies can edify people's sentiment and make people obtain multiple spiritual and physical happiness. From tour research, a wide range of hobbies can also have a positive impact on sub-health. Which is consistent with most studies [24-25]. Irregular diets and dietary bias can affect the sub-health status of medical workers assisting Wuhan. Therefore, scientific and reasonable work and rotation schedules should be formulated, and the work roles of medical staff should be appropriately adjusted. Consciously quit smoking and alcohol abuse addition to a reasonable diet are helpful to improve the health of medical staff.