Abstract

Introduction

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a global health crisis that originated in China. As an adjacent city to the origin of COVID-19, Hong Kong has been facing different public health challenges raised by the epidemic.

Objectives

This paper examined the prevalence of common physical symptoms, psychological symptoms, somatic symptoms, and health anxiety among the Hong Kong youth population.

Methods

HKYES is an on-going territory-wide epidemiological study collecting youth mental health data with randomly stratified sampling. Participants aged 15-24 years were to complete a physical symptom checklist, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15), and Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI).

Results

A total of 594 participants have completed the survey since April 2020. The three most common physical symptoms were headache (n=106, 17.8%), fever (n=94, 15.8%) and fatigue (n=78, 13.1%). The mean scores of DASS depression, anxiety and stress subscales were 7.98 (SD 8.14), 5.81 (SD 6.32), and 8.83 (SD 7.93) respectively. Among all, 135 (22.8%) participants reported moderate to severe levels of depressive symptoms, 133 (22.4%) reported moderate to severe levels of anxiety symptoms, and 71 (12%) reported moderate to severe levels of stress. There were 40 (6.7%) and 60 (10.1%) participants showing significant levels of insomnia and somatic symptoms, while around one-third of the participants reported a high level of health anxiety.

Conclusions

Youth is at risk of severe psychological impact during the coronavirus. Monitoring the mental health trajectory for youth should become routine practice during times of crisis.

Details

Title
The mental health impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on hong kong youth: Preliminary results from the hong kong youth mental health epidemiological study (HKYES)
Author
Chung, TH 1 ; Yuen, A S 1 ; Wong, C S 1 ; Hui, CL 1 ; Chan, S K 1 ; Chang, W 2 ; Lee, E H 1 ; Chen, E Y 1 

 Department Of Psychiatry, The University of Hong Kong, HK, Hong Kong PRC 
 Department Of Psychiatry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong PRC 
Pages
S277-S277
Publication year
2021
Publication date
Apr 2021
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
ISSN
09249338
e-ISSN
17783585
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2560865673
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.