Abstract: Objective To analyze the correlation between exposure time to high altitude and mental health of cadres in Tibet. Methods From 2019 to 2022,126 cadres who had been in Tibet for different periods of time and had college degrees or above were selected as the research objects. The 126 officials were divided into 2 groups according to their time in Tibet.The 68 officials who entered Tibet in July 2018 and left Tibet in July 2019 and entered Tibet in July 2020 and left Tibet in August 2021 were classified as the one-year aid group. The 58 people who entered Tibet in July 2019,left Tibet in July 2022,entered Tibet in August 2016,and left Tibet in July 2021 were in the group of aiding Tibet ≥3 years. Gender,age,altitude,and time spent in Tibet were collected through a self-compiled questionnaire. The self-reporting inventory（SCL-90） was tested by questionnaire one week before their departure from Tibet,and the test scores were collected and analyzed to measure the mental health status of cadres who assisted Tibet. Results Compared with the national norm,there were statistically significant differences in the scores of each factor of SCL-90 among 126 cadres in Tibet except interpersonal relationship,hostility and paranoia,the scores of somatization,compulsion,depression,anxiety,terror and psychosis（all P<0.05）. The differences of score of somatization[（2.30±0.83）points],compulsion[（2.53±0.75）points],interpersonal relationship[（1.78±0.73）points],anxiety[（1.94±0.67）points],depression[（2.16±0.72）points],paranoia[（1.64±0.70）points],and total score[（1.98±0.60）points],average score of positive symptoms[（2.83±0.54）points],number of positive items[（46.48±20.14）points],pain level of positive symptoms[（4.37±1.67）points] for cadres assisting Tibet exposed high attitude ≥3 years were statistically significant with the score of somatization[（1.80±0.57）points],compulsion[（2.03±0.63）points],interpersonal relationship[（1.46±0.40）points],anxiety[（1.67±0.49）points],depression[（1.73±0.54）points],paranoia[（1.35±0.50）points],total score[（1.66±0.42）points],average score of positive symptoms[（2.63±0.40）points],number of positive items[（35.96±20.50）points],and positive symptom distress level[（6.06±6.00）points] for cadres assisting Tibet exposed high attitude 1 year（all P<0.05）. The longer the altitude exposure time,the higher the SCL-90 score（r=0.225,P<0.05）. Conclusion The influence of plateau exposure on the mental health of cadres in aid Tibet is lower than that of the normal population,and the effect becomes more obvious with the extension of plateau exposure time. Factors such as somatization,compulsion,interpersonal relationship,depression and paranoia are strongly correlated with plateau exposure time.

Key words: Tibet aid cadres, Plateau exposure time, Mental health