Prevalence and Correlation of Anxiety, Insomnia and Somatic Symptoms in a Chinese Population During the COVID-19 Epidemic

Abstract

Background: Anxiety has been a common mental state during the epidemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and is usually closely related to somatization. However, no study on somatization in anxiety and its relationship with insomnia has been conducted. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the prevalence of anxiety, somatization and insomnia and explore the relationships between different psychological states in the general population during the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: A total of 1,172 respondents were recruited from 125 cities in mainland China by an online questionnaire survey. All subjects were evaluated with the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale, the somatization subscale of the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R), and the 7-item Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Results: The percentages of anxiety, somatization, and insomnia were 33.02%, 7.59%, and 24.66%, respectively. The prevalence of somatization was 19.38% in participants with anxiety. Compared to the anxiety without somatization group, the anxiety with somatization group had a significantly higher percentage of patients with a history of physical disease and insomnia, as well as higher GAD-7 scores and SCL-90 somatization subscores (all p < 0.001). The SCL-90 somatization subscores were positively correlated with age, history of physical disease, GAD-7 scores, and ISI scores (all p < 0.001). Furthermore, multivariate logistic regression showed that GAD-7 score, ISI score, and age were risk factors for somatization in the anxious population.

Patients with Chronic Pain Prefer Maintenance of Pain Treatment Despite COVID-19 Pandemic Restrictions

“…In our study, a significant number of patients reported worse pain or psychological distress during the pandemic. This phenomenon is not surprising and has been reported by different authors, as previous pandemics already showed negative effects on psychologi-cal distress of the normal population or mentally prestressed patients (12,(27)(28)(29)(30)(31). Also, other life-threatening events, such as war or terrorism, have proven influence on pain and psychological distress (32)(33)(34)(35).…”

Younger people are more vulnerable to stress, anxiety and depression during COVID-19 pandemic: A global cross-sectional survey

“…This is not surprising, given the well-established association between sleep and psychopathology during the pandemic previously reported. ( Hetkamp et al, 2020 ; Huang et al, 2020 ; Stanton et al, 2020 ) Previous studies have shown that sleep and affective brain functioning are linked. ( Palmer and Alfano, 2017 ) Sleep disturbances also increase the risk of depression and anxiety.…”

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Maternal Anxiety in Brazil

“…A high overall score indicates a high level of anxiety. Anxiety levels are defined according to the total score as follows: minimal anxiety (0-7), mild anxiety (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15), moderate anxiety (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25), and severe anxiety (26-63) [17]. A validated Brazilian Portuguese version of the BAI with adequate internal consistency (0.88-0.92) was used in this study [18,19].…”

“…This outbreak is leading to additional worldwide health problems, such as stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, insomnia, denial, anger and fear [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. The COVID-19 pandemic has also increased anxiety among the pregnant population [ 12 ].…”