Patterns of mental health problems before and after easing COVID-19 restrictions: Evidence from a 105248-subject survey in general population in China

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has alarming implications for individual and population level mental health. Although the future of COVID-19 is unknown at present, more countries or regions start to ease restrictions. The findings from this study have provided the empirical evidence of prevalence and patterns of mental disorders in Chinese general population before and after easing most COVID-19 restrictions, and information of the factors associated with these patterns. Methods A cross-sectional population-based online survey was carried out from February to March 2020 in the general population across all provinces in China. The 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was incorporated in the survey. Latent class analyses were performed to investigate the patterns of mental disorders and multinomial logistic regressions were used to examine how individual and regional risk factors can predict mental disorder patterns. Results Four distinctive patterns of mental health were revealed in the general population. After the ease of most COVID-19 restrictions, the prevalence of high risk of mental disorders decreased from 25.8% to 20.9% and prevalence of being high risk of unhappiness and loss of confidence decreased from 10.1% to 8.1%. However, the prevalence of stressed, social dysfunction and unhappy were consistently high before and after easing restrictions. Several regional factors, such as case mortality rate and healthcare resources, were associated with mental health status. Of note, healthcare workers were less likely to have mental disorders, compared to other professionals and students. Conclusions The dynamic management of mental health and psychosocial well-being is as important as that of physical health both before and after the ease of COVID-19 restrictions. Our findings may help in mental health interventions in other countries and regions while easing COVID-19 restrictions.

Life in lockdown: a longitudinal study investigating the impact of the UK COVID-19 lockdown measures on lifestyle behaviours and mental health

“…Similar findings have been shown internationally. A large population-based survey study in China (N = 105,248) found that the prevalence of being high risk for mental disorders decreased from 25.8% when lockdown restrictions were in place (early-February 2020) to 20.9% when most COVID-19 restrictions were eased (mid-March 2020) [43]. However, it is still unknown whether this 'bounce-back' effect is present across all population sub-groups, or whether the mental health of certain groups remain negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Mental health disturbance in preclinical medical students and its association with screen time, sleep quality, and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The proportion of current mental health disturbances found in this study, at 49.1%, was comparable to that in previous studies. In Jordanian medical schools, half of the participants had severe mental disorders, and only 13.2% were likely to be well (26); In Turkey, among 1375 medical students, 52.4% of them reported feeling mentally unwell (27); and a study in India showed that nearly half of 2,021 medical students reported some degree of mental health problems, such as depression (50.27%), anxiety (51.46%), and stress (41.61%) [ 35 ]. Meanwhile, most students in this study had a moderate degree of depression (35.3%), followed by moderately severe depression (31.7%).…”

Long COVID in the Long Run—23-Month Follow-up Study of Persistent Symptoms

“…One particular limitation is the lack of a control group. People not infected by SARS-CoV-2 have also experienced fatigue and psychological issues during the pandemic [ 12 , 13 ]. However, most of these symptoms can be expected to decrease as any remaining restrictions are lifted [ 13 ], and we therefore believe that our results represent the long-term effects of COVID-19.…”

“…People not infected by SARS-CoV-2 have also experienced fatigue and psychological issues during the pandemic [ 12 , 13 ]. However, most of these symptoms can be expected to decrease as any remaining restrictions are lifted [ 13 ], and we therefore believe that our results represent the long-term effects of COVID-19. A further limitation is that we only included cognitive symptoms such as concentration and memory difficulties at follow-up.…”