Effects Of Epidemic Prevention And Control Measures On Sleep Quality And Mental Health Status Of College Students

BackgroundNovel coronavirus pneumonia,COVID-19(Covid-19)for short,is a major infectious disease with fever,cough,muscle soreness and other major symptoms.Since the pandemic,COVID-19 has had a negative impact on college students’ sleep quality,and caused anxiety,depression and other mental health problems.Due to the changing trend of COVID-19 and the change in the understanding of relevant departments on the prevention and control of COVID-19,colleges and universities have taken different prevention and control measures at different stages.However,so far,there is no research on the impact of campus COVID-19 prevention and control measures on college students’ sleep quality and mental health.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 prevention and control measures taken by colleges and universities at different stages on the sleep quality and mental health of college students,and to provide suggestions for the development of campus management measures in the context of the epidemic.MethodsThis study used a cross-sectional survey to investigate the sleep quality,anxiety,depression and life events of 1106 and 904 college students respectively during the closed campus management period and after the optimization of the COVID-19 prevention and control measures.Evaluate sleep and mental health status using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index(PSQI),Self Rating Anxiety Scale(SAS),and Depression Scale(CES-D).After matching age,gender,and major based on a 1:1propensity score,637 individuals were included,and t-tests,analysis of variance,and other methods were used to analyze the changes in PSQI,SAS,and CES-D before and after optimizing epidemic prevention and control management measures.Linear regression model was used to evaluate the impact of epidemic prevention and control measures on college students’ sleep quality and mental health,and multiple models were fitted to control the impact of potential confounding factors to verify the stability of the effect.Finally,the mediated effect of life events in the impact of epidemic prevention and control measures on college students’ sleep quality and mental health was discussed.Results(1)Sleep quality and mental health status: PSQI scores were significantly lower after optimizing epidemic prevention and control measures compared to before implementation(5.05 ± 3.15 vs 5.58 ± 2.98,P=0.002);The SAS score was significantly lower after the optimization of epidemic prevention and control measures than before(36.7 ± 9.31 vs.45.3 ± 10.8,P<0.001);There was no significant difference in the CES-D score before and after the optimization of epidemic prevention and control measures(15.3 ± 10.8 vs 15.8 ± 10.2,P=0.319).(2)Factors affecting sleep quality of college students: After adjusting for confounding factors,the results of the multi factor model showed that after optimizing epidemic prevention and control measures,the PSQI score was significantly reduced compared to before optimization(OR=0.56,95% CI=0.41-0.78,P<0.001);It should be noted that compared with nursing majors,medical technology and other majors have a higher risk of low sleep quality(OR>1,P<0.05);Compared with freshmen,senior students have a higher risk of low sleep quality(OR>1,P<0.05);The life event score is an independent risk factor for low sleep quality among college students(OR=1.05(1.04-1.06),P<0.001).(3)Factors affecting the mental health status of college students: After adjusting for confounding factors,the results of the multi factor model showed that after optimizing epidemic prevention and control measures,the total SAS score significantly decreased compared to before optimization(OR=0.10,95%CI=0.07-0.15,P<0.001);It is worth noting that compared to freshmen,sophomore students have a higher risk of anxiety(OR=9.81,95% CI=2.50-38.55,P=0.015);Compared with students with an annual family income of less than 20000,students with an annual family income of more than 100000 have a lower risk of anxiety(OR=0.09,95% CI=0.02-0.43,P=0.002);The life event score is an independent risk factor for anxiety among college students(OR=1.24(1.21-1.26),P<0.001).In the univariate analysis of the impact of epidemic prevention and control measures on depression among college students,it was found that there was no significant difference in the total CES-D score after optimization,while grade and annual family income had a significant impact on depression among college students(P<0.05).(4)Mediation analysis: the mediated effect model analysis found that life events played a mediated effect in the relationship between epidemic prevention and control measures and sleep quality(P=0.015).After adjusting for potential confounding factors,the effect size was 0.06,of which the mediation ratio was 10.09%.However,the mediated effect of life events in the relationship between epidemic prevention and control measures and anxiety was not significant(P=0.390).ConclusionsThe optimization measures for epidemic prevention and control have significantly improved the sleep quality and anxiety state of college students;The major,grade,and annual family income have a significant impact on the sleep quality and mental health status of college students;Life event score is an independent risk factor for sleep quality and psychological state of college students;Life events play a mediated effect in the relationship between epidemic prevention and control measures and college students’ sleep quality.