Temporal changes in mental response and prevention patterns, and their impact from uncertainty stress during the transition in China from the COVID-19 epidemic to sporadic infection

Objective This prospective observational study examined changing trends of mental responses and prevention patterns, and their impact from uncertainty stress during the transition in China from the COVID-19 epidemic to sporadic infection. Setting A prospective longitudinal observation design was utilized in this study. Participants We recruited participants for an online panel survey from chat groups on Chinese social media platforms. Data collection There were 7 waves of interviews. Data were obtained by an online survey. A special administrative WeChat group was established to manage the follow-up data collection. Measures Several mental responses and prevention patterns were each measured by single questionnaire items. Uncertainty stress was measured by 5-point scale. An irrational beliefs about prevention variable was comprised 5 common misconceptions, which manifested during the COVID-19 epidemic in China. Analysis Sixty-two participants completed all observation points and were included in the study. The Mann–Kendall Test was used to assess changing trends across the seven observation points. The nonparametric linear mixed effects model was used to examine the association between uncertainty stress and mental and behavioral responses. Results The mean uncertainty stress did not change significantly over the observation period (T:-0.911, P>0.05). This trend was also true for perceived risk (T: -0.141, P>0.05), perceived severity (T: 1.010, P>0.05), self-efficacy for prevention (T: 0.129, P>0.05), and prevention behavior (T: 0.728, P>0.05). There was a statistically significant downwards trend in irrational beliefs about prevention (T: -4.993, p < 0.01), sleep (T: -2.499, p < 0.05), emotions (T: -5.650, p < 0.01), and lifestyle (T:-5.978, p < 0.01). The results showed that uncertainty stress was positively associated with irrational beliefs (β: 0.16298, p<0.01). The more uncertainty stress, the worse was their sleep (β: 0.02070, p<0.05), emotions (β: 0.03462, p<0.01), and lifestyle(β: 0.02056, p<0.05). High levels of uncertainty stress was negatively associated with self-efficacy for prevention and prevention behavior, βvalue was =-1.33210 (p<0.01) and -0.82742 (p<0.01), respectively. Conclusion As the COVID-19 virus spreads around the globe, it is currently in epidemic status in some countries, in sporadic status in another countries, and it will eventually transition to a sporadic infection status. This study provides new information on changing trends of mental responses and prevention patterns from the COVID-19 epidemic as the transition to a sporadic infection period takes place. These results may have important policy and disease prevention in post-epidemic times.