The dynamic changes of psychosomatic symptoms in three waves of COVID-19 outbreak and fatigue caused by enduring pandemic in China.

BACKGROUND: Two years have passed since the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was first reported. The persistent pandemic might lead to severe psychosomatic problems and fatigue. In addition, the recent rapid rising COVID-19 cases in China have become a trending issue. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the dynamic changes in psychosomatic problems at the initial and current stages of the pandemic. METHODS: Three waves of cross-sectional online survey were conducted during the initial COVID outbreak in China. The psychosomatic symptom scale (PSSS), perceived stress scale (PSS), and pandemic fatigue scale (PFS) were used to assess the psychosomatic problems, stress, and fatigue. RESULTS: 4317, 1096, and 2172 participants completed the first, second, and third surveys. The prevalence of psychosomatic disorder was 22 %, 28 %, and 39 %, respectively. The network structure of PSSS symptoms has not significantly changed as the pandemic progresses. However, the global strength of the PSSS networks, indicating the overall connectivity, in the third wave was significantly higher than in the first wave (s = 0.54, P = 0.007). The most central symptoms in the first and third wave networks were depressed mood and tiredness. The PFS score was higher in the people concerned with indirect impact than those concerned with health (P < 0.001). PFS has positive relationships with PSSS and PSS score (R = 0.41, P < 0.001 and R = 0.35, P < 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The persistence of the pandemic caused critical psychosomatic issues, stress, and indirect burden over time, leading to inevitable fatigue. People endured needing immediate attention to prevent or reduce psychosomatic disorders.

The mental health of China and Pakistan, mental health laws and COVID-19 mental health policies: a comparative review.

Mental health is one of the major causes of disability worldwide, and mental health problems such as depression and anxiety are ranked among the top 25 leading causes of disease burden in the world. This burden is considerable over the lifetime of both men and women and in various settings and ages. This study aims to compare the mental health status of people in China and Pakistan and to highlight the mental health laws and policies during COVID-19 and afterwards. According to the literature on mental health, before the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health problems increased gradually, but during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, an abrupt surge occurred in mental health problems. To overcome mental health disorders, most (but not all) countries have mental health laws, but some countries ignore mental health disorders. China is one such country that has mental health laws and policies and, during the COVID-19 pandemic, China made beneficial and robust policies and laws, thereby succeeding in defeating the COVID-19 pandemic. The mortality rate and financial loss were also lower than in other countries. While Pakistan has mental health laws and general health policies, the law is only limited to paperwork and books. When it came to COVID-19, Pakistan did not make any specific laws to overcome the virus. Mental health problems are greater in Pakistan than in China, and China's mental health laws and policies are more robust and more widely implemented than those in Pakistan. We conclude that there are fewer mental health issues in China than in Pakistan both before and since the COVID-19 pandemic. China has strong mental health laws and these are robustly implemented, while the mental health law in Pakistan is not applied in practice.

Mental health symptoms and sleep quality of asymptomatic/mild SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals during the Omicron wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Shanghai China.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate mental health symptoms (anxiety, depression, and sleep status) and their associated factors among people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant during the quarantine period in Shanghai. METHODS: To investigate the mental health symptoms among participants with SARS-CoV-2 omicron infection, an anonymous online survey questionnaire was used. The survey panel included the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and 22-item Ruminative Responses Scale (RRS). Group comparisons and correlation analyses were employed to explore the epidemiological characteristics of patients and factors related to depression and anxiety symptoms. RESULTS: A total of 960 participants completed the survey. Of the total respondents, 583 participants (60.7%) were male, and the mean (SD) age was 34.33 (9.21) years (95% CI: 33.74-34.91). The prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among the participants was 13.7% (n = 151, 95% CI: 11.6%-15.7%) and 8.6% (n = 90, 95% CI: 6.9%-10.3%), respectively. Age-stratified analysis showed that the prevalence of anxiety among the 36- to 45-year-old group (12.9%; n = 35, 8.9%-16.9%) was significantly higher than that of the 18- to 15-year-old group (7.4%; n = 42, 5.3%-9.6%, p = .011). Spearman's correlation analyses showed that rumination (assessed by the RRS) was significantly and positively correlated with depression (rho = .706, p < .001) and anxiety symptoms (rho = .758, p < .001). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that female and middle-aged populations manifest higher susceptibility to mental health distress during the current Omicron wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Population-specific psychological crisis intervention is warranted to improve the quality of epidemic prevention methods and to promote the mental well-being of the public.

Prevention and control strategy for the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders during the epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019

The National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China has classified coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) as category B infectious disease and taken preventive and control measures of category A infectious diseases. COVID-19 is highly contagious and all age groups are vulnerable. Therefore, medical institutions should strengthen preventive and control measures during COVID-19 epidemic to refrain from nosocomial infection. Other factors, such as mental status disturbances caused by psychological stress during COVID-19 outbreak, high population density of closed ward and poor behavioral control of psychiatric patients, may hinder the preventive and control measures of COVID-19. We propose the preventive and control strategy of psychiatric disorders during the COVID-19 epidemic to provide reference for various psychiatric institutions.

Influence of sleep difficulty on post-traumatic stress symptoms among frontline medical staff during COVID-19 pandemic in China.

Being a nurse was demonstrated to be a risk factor for post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTS) and insomnia among frontline staff during COVID-19 pandemic. The unidirectional relationship between insomnia and PTS highly suggested that insomnia could mediate the increasing risk of PTS among frontline nurses. However, no study had tried to clarify this mediation effect of insomnia during COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to investigate prevalence of insomnia and PTS among frontline doctors and nurses and to clarify the relationship between career (doctor/nurses), insomnia and PTS. A total of 211 frontline doctors and nurses completed the investigation. Insomnia was measured using a self-drafted questionnaire and PTS was assessed using primary care post-traumatic stress disorder screen (PC-PTSD). Three logistics regression models and one mediation model were performed to explore relationships between career, insomnia and PTS. The prevalence of PTS (PC-PTSD≥2) and insomnia (with 1 item in self-drafted insomnia questionnaire≥2) was 24.17% and 36.97%, respectively. Being a nurse was a shared risk factor of insomnia (OR = 4.16, 95%CI: 1.30 ~ 5.77, P = 0.023) and PTS (OR = 7.51, 95%CI: 1.89 ~ 40.50, P = 0.008). Compared to doctors, nurses had significantly higher prevalence of insomnia (46.32% vs. 20%, χ2 = 13.27, P < 0.001) and PTS (30.14% vs. 13.33%, χ2 = 6.57, P = 0.011). Insomnia was a significant partial mediator (B = 0.101, P = 0.026), which explained 32.53% proportions of relationship between being a nurse and PTS. PTS and insomnia were common symptoms, which should be considered in psychological aids among frontline medical staff. Insomnia might be a possible target of PTS intervention.