Prevalence and Risk Factors of Anxiety and Depression in Two Populations of Policemen During the Health Crisis Linked to COVID-19

To date, there is little international data on depression and anxiety among police officers apart from studies carried out after an attack or natural disaster. At the national level, no mental health data exists for police officers, apart from those from the Paris attacks, and the work of investigators after the Strasbourg attack (article in press).

During the covid crisis, in Alsace, the police, like the rest of the population, took the full brunt of the pandemic. The police, however, are part of essential professions and have not been confined, but on the contrary, have remained in contact with the population, in particular to carry out traffic controls. Studies published to date show varying mental health outcomes for essential occupations during the pandemic.

The investigators hypothesize that the police officers had a feeling of being more exposed and that their mental health could be affected. For this it was decided to compare two populations of departments of similar size, but with different exposure to the pandemic: Bas Rhin and Hérault French departments