Prevalence and Factors Associated With Acute Stress Disorder Among Adults Ever Infected With COVID-19 During the Ending Phase of the Pandemic in 7 Chinese Cities: Cross-Sectional Study

TL;DR

This study found that 21.2% of adults in China who had previously been infected with COVID-19 experienced acute stress disorder, highlighting the need for early interventions.

Contribution

The study identifies both personal and environmental risk factors for acute stress disorder in post-pandemic settings.

Findings

The prevalence of acute stress disorder among previously infected individuals was 21.2%.

Personal risk factors included perceived reinfection risk and worry about long-term physical harms.

Environmental factors like difficulty accessing medical supplies and unvaccinated family members increased ASD risk.

Abstract

Acute stress disorder (ASD) among people ever infected with COVID-19 is prevalent and may lead to posttraumatic stress disorder. Soon after China relaxed their COVID-19 control measures in November 2022 or December 2022, the infection rate surged rapidly, creating huge uncertainty and stressful situations. Little is known about situations regarding ASD at the ending phase of the pandemic.

The study aimed to investigate the potential of personal cognitive or emotional factors and environmental factors of ASD.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 5545 people ever infected with COVID-19 aged 18‐60 years from December 27, 2022, to January 9, 2023, living in 7 cities of China. The 5-item Chinese version of the Primary Care PTSD Screen was used to assess ASD. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors of ASD.

The prevalence of ASD was 21.2% (1174/5545). Adjusted for the background variables, significant personal risk factors (COVID-19 infection severity, cognitions including perceived high reinfection risk and perceived weak acquired natural immunity, and emotions including worry about the long-term physical harms and panic about infection of older or younger family members), and significant environmental risk factors (difficulties in getting information and medical supplies, having unvaccinated older or younger family members, and having significant others with severe COVID-19 symptoms) were identified.

The prevalence of ASD among people ever infected with COVID-19 was noticeable. It is warranted to identify those at high risk of developing ASD and provide them with care and early interventions to prevent deterioration. Such programs may consider targeting the modifiable risk factors found in this study.