High risk of infection caused Posttraumatic Stress symptoms in individuals with poor sleep quality: A study on influence of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in China

The influence of the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on mental health was poorly understood. The present study aimed to exam sleep problems and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in Chinese immediately after the massive outbreak of COVID-19. A total of 2027 Chinese participated in the present study. Wuhan-expose history, sleep quality and PTSS were measured with self-rating scales. Results showed that there were significant differences of PCL-5 and of sleep quality scores in different data-collection dates (ps<0.05). There were significant differences of PCL-5 scores (t=-2.93, p<0.05) and latency onset of sleep (χ2=9.77, p<0.05) between participants with and without Wuhan-expose history. The interaction effect of Wuhan exposure history× sleep quality significantly influenced PCL-5 (ps<0.05). These results indicate that keeping good sleep quality in individuals with high infectious risk is a way to prevent PTSS.