Epidemic area contact history and sleep quality associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms in the first phase of COVID-19 outbreak in China

The impact of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak on mental health was of widespread concern recently. The present study aimed to exam sleep quality and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and potential influence factors in the first phases of COVID-19 massive outbreak in China. A snowball sampling technique was used and a total of 2027 Chinese participated in the present study. Demographic information, epidemic area contact history, sleep quality and PTSS data were collected with an internet-based cross-sectional survey. Results suggested that 59.7% participants were not fully satisfied with their sleep quality, and 50.9% participants had various degrees of short sleep duration problems. 44.1% and 33.0% participants had sleep disturbance and sleep onset latency problems. Also, the prevalence of PTSS reached 4.7% in the self-rating survey. Epidemic area contact history affected PTSS and latency onset of sleep under the influence of COVID-19. Epidemic area contact history and sleep quality had interaction effects on PTSS. The present study was one of the first to evaluate acute psychological responses and possible risk factors during the peak of COVID-19 in China and results indicate that keeping good sleep quality in individuals with pandemic exposure experiences is a way to prevent PTSS.