Department of General Psychiatry, Jianan Psychiatric Center, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Tainan, Taiwan.
Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
Brain Behav. 2024 Oct;14(10):e70094. doi: 10.1002/brb3.70094.
Long COVID symptoms (i.e., experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 for 3 months post-COVID-19) affect individuals' health and their quality of life (QoL). However, the pathways through which it does so are not fully known.
The present study examined the mediating roles of sleep quality, psychological distress, and self-stigma in the associations between long COVID symptoms and QoL among individuals with mental illness.
Individuals with mental illness (n = 333) were recruited from a psychiatric center in southern Taiwan to participate in the study. Data were collected regarding sleep quality, psychological distress, self-stigma, and QoL. Independent t-tests, Pearson correlations, and regression with Hayes' Process Macro were used to compare groups, examine relationships, and parallel mediation models, respectively.
Participants with long COVID symptoms had significantly worse sleep quality, psychological distress, physical QoL, and psychological QoL compared to those without symptoms. There were significant relationships between sleep quality, psychological distress, self-stigma, and QoL. Sleep quality significantly mediated the associations between long COVID symptoms and physical and social QoL. Psychological distress significantly mediated the associations between long COVID symptoms and all domains of QoL, but not self-stigma.
There are alternative pathways (e.g., sleep quality and psychological distress) through which long COVID symptoms may affect the QoL of individuals with mental illness. The findings suggest that individuals with long COVID symptoms have a higher chance of having poor QoL. Therefore, there may be the need for counseling and possible therapy for those who contract COVID-19, especially among individuals who already have mental illness.
长新冠症状（即新冠感染后 3 个月仍有新冠症状）会影响个体的健康和生活质量（QoL）。然而，其作用途径尚不完全清楚。
本研究旨在探讨睡眠质量、心理困扰和自我污名在长新冠症状与精神疾病个体 QoL 之间的关系中的中介作用。
从台湾南部的一家精神科中心招募了患有精神疾病的个体（n=333）参与研究。收集了关于睡眠质量、心理困扰、自我污名和 QoL 的数据。采用独立样本 t 检验、皮尔逊相关和 Hayes' Process Macro 回归分别比较组间差异、检验关系和并行中介模型。
与无长新冠症状者相比，有长新冠症状者的睡眠质量、心理困扰、生理 QoL 和心理 QoL 显著更差。睡眠质量、心理困扰、自我污名和 QoL 之间存在显著关系。睡眠质量显著中介了长新冠症状与生理和社会 QoL 之间的关联。心理困扰显著中介了长新冠症状与 QoL 的所有领域之间的关联，但自我污名不显著。
长新冠症状可能通过替代途径（例如睡眠质量和心理困扰）影响精神疾病个体的 QoL。研究结果表明，有长新冠症状的个体更有可能出现 QoL 较差的情况。因此，对于感染新冠的个体，尤其是已经患有精神疾病的个体，可能需要进行心理咨询和可能的治疗。
