Objective  To examine mental health status among the residents in Hubei province during the novel coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic (COVID-19) and to provide evidences for conducing psychological intervention in the population.

  Methods  Using snowball sampling, we conducted an online anonymous survey among 1 444 residents of Hubei province recruited during 10 – 12 February 2020. A self-designed questionnaire and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item (GAD-7) were administered among the respondents via WeChat platform.

  Results  Of the 1 157 respondents with valid information, 16.51% reported anxiety symptoms and the anxiety symptoms differed significantly by age, education, marital status, and occupation (all P < 0.05); 51.51% and 13.74% reported extremely severe and severe panic symptoms and the panic symptoms were significantly different among the respondents of different gender and age (both P < 0.05); 73.38% and 20.22% expressed strong and moderate confidence in eliminating the epidemic and the expressed confidence varied by gender, age and education (all P < 0.05); and 35.87% and 25.24% reported moderate and great concern on being subject to the discrimination possibly caused by the epidemic outbreak and the expressed concern differed significantly by gender, age, education, marital status, occupation, and residence (all P < 0.05).

  Conclusion  The novel coronavirus disease epidemic had various adverse impacts on mental health status of residents in Hubei province and the impacts varied by residents′ gender, age, marital status, education, residence, and occupation; the results suggest that early specific mental health intervention should be promoted in the population.