Online-Based Survey on College Students’ Anxiety During COVID-19 Outbreak

Wantong Han,1– 3 Lingzhong Xu,1– 3 Aimin Niu,4 Yurong Jing,1– 3 Wenzhe Qin,1– 3 Jiao Zhang,1– 3 Xiang Jing,5 Yali Wang6 1Centre for Health Management and Policy Research, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 2NHC Key Laboratory of Health Economics and Policy Research, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, People’s Republic of China; 3Center for Health Economics Experiment and Public Policy Research, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Public Health, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China; 5Yuncheng Central Hospital, Yuncheng, Shanxi, People’s Republic of China; 6Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhengzhou, Henan, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Lingzhong XuSchool of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Mailbox No. 110, 44 Wenhuaxi Road, Jinan, 250012, Shandong, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-0531-8838-2648Fax +86-0531-88382533Email lzxu@sdu.edu.cnAimin NiuDepartment of Public Health, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, No. 324 Jingwu Road, Huaiyin District, Jinan, 250021, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86-1866-370-2722Fax +86-0531-87921022Email nam1106@163.comPurpose: Studies have suggested that public health emergencies can have many psychological effects on college students, therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate current situation of college students’ anxiety and its determinants in the time of an unexpected pandemic.Patients and Methods: We conducted convenience sampling to collect the data through network-based online questionnaires in February 2020, a total of 17,876 college students were included in the analysis. Chi-square test and multivariate logistic were used to identify the associations between the outbreak experiences and anxiety detection.Results: This study found that detection rate of anxiety among college students was 18.2%. The differences in male students, students whose self-perceived risk of infection were high, who were greatly affected by the outbreak, eager to go back to school, reluctant to leave home and stay at home enough were of statistical significance among different anxiety level (OR> 1, P< 0.05). And the severe anxiety rate of students who living in cities was significantly higher (2.337[1.468, 3.721]).Conclusion: Although our results show that anxiety among college students was at a low level, various universities should focus on the online activities and develop appropriate epidemic management plans to prevent their feelings of worry, tension and panic.Keywords: anxiety, college students, network-based, COVID-19