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.

Infectious disease pandemic and permanent volatility of international stock markets: A long-term perspective.

Understanding the impact of infectious disease pandemic on stock market volatility is of great concerns for investors and policy makers, especially during recent new coronavirus spreading period. Using an extended GARCH-MIDAS model and a newly developed Infectious Disease Equity Market Volatility Tracker (EMV-ID), we investigate the effects of infectious disease pandemic on volatility of US, China, UK and Japan stock markets through January 2005 to April 2020. The empirical results show that, up to 24-month lag, infectious disease pandemic has significant positive impacts on the permanent volatility of international stock markets, even after controlling the influences of past realized volatility, global economic policy uncertainty and the volatility leverage effect. At different lags of eruptions in infectious disease pandemic, EMV-ID has distinct effects on various stock markets while it has the smallest impact on permanent volatility of China's stock market.