Prevalence and factors associated with insomnia among medical students in China during the COVID-19 pandemic: characterization and associated factors

Background: Insomnia has become an important issue in recent years. Insomnia is affected by many factors. Previous research has shown that during the COVID-19 epidemic, there would be a long-term negative effect on the mental health of medical college students. The state of medical college students’ insomnia directly determines the results of medical education and the career development prospects of the medical students themselves. Therefore, it is very important to understand the insomnia situation of medical students in the post-epidemic era. Methods: This study was conducted 2 years after the global COVID-19 pandemic (April 1-April 23, 2022). The study used an online questionnaire, administered through a web-based survey platform. The Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), Fear of COVID‐19 Scale (FCV-19S), GAD-2, PHQ-2, and socio-demographic information were surveyed by the Questionnaire Star platform. Results: The prevalence of insomnia was 27.8.0% (636/2289). Chi-squared tests revealed that, loneliness(P<0.001), depression and anxiety co-morbidities(P<0.001), age(P<0.001), and grade(P<0.001) strong associations of insomnia. Fear of COVID-19 was highly correlated with insomnia (P<0.001). adapting to online classes(P<0.001) was a protective factor of smartphone addiction. Conclusions: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of insomnia and identify associated influencing factors among college students in Anhui Province, China. This survey shows that Insomnia was highly prevalent among the Chinese medical college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. These negative insomnia issues could decline learning enthusiasm, productivity, and eventually, affecting the medical college student academic performance. Therefore, the government and schools should formulate targeted programs and strategies to reduce insomnia among medical college students.