Research on sleep status, body mass index, anxiety and depression of college students during the post-pandemic era in Wuhan, China

Objective: Wuhan was the first Chinese city to be lockdown for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in springtime of 2020. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between sleep status, body mass index, anxiety and depression in college students during the post-pandemic era in the universities of Wuhan, China. Methods: A total of 1457 college students completed the online surveys from December 25, 2020 to January 16, 2021. Collected data included gender, age, school name, native place, grade, major, body mass index (BMI), the scores of self-assessment lists of sleep (SRSS), Zung self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and Zung depression self-rating scale (SDS). Results: 1445 valid questionnaires (99.18%) were received. Of all the respondents, the prevalence of insomnia, overweight and obesity, anxiety and depression were 32.73%, 19.45%, 15.43% and 62.91%, respectively. Female students were more likely to have insomnia and anxiety than male students. The rate of insomnia, overweight and obesity in postgraduates were higher than undergraduates. Non-medical students were more likely to be overweight and obese than medical students. In addition, insomnia severity was positively correlated to anxiety severity, and BMI was positively correlated to anxiety or depression severity. There was also a positive correlation between the severity of anxiety and depression. Conclusion: During the post-pandemic era, insomnia and depression are common problems among college students in Wuhan, suggesting that we should strengthen the sleep education of college students to improve sleeping disorders and psychosomatic health.