Journal of Epidemiology (Dec 2024)

The Association Between COVID-19-related Discrimination and Probable Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Among Patients With COVID-19 in Sapporo, Japan

  • Isaku Kurotori,
  • Toshiaki R. Asakura,
  • Takashi Kimura,
  • Miyuki Hori,
  • Mariko Hosozawa,
  • Masayuki Saijo,
  • Hiroyasu Iso,
  • Akiko Tamakoshi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.2188/jea.JE20230360
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 34, no. 12
pp. 570 – 576

Abstract

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Background: Disasters such as earthquakes, terrorism, and pandemics have triggered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and discrimination against the affected individuals has been linked to the development of PTSD. However, there is limited evidence regarding the association between discrimination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients and probable PTSD in Japan. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study utilizing a web-based questionnaire targeting individuals who had contracted the severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in Sapporo City. A total of 4,247 individuals with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection spanning from February 2020 to February 2022 completed the questionnaire (response rate: 15.9%). Probable PTSD was measured using the three-item Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale. The stratified exact logistic regression was applied to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) of probable PTSD for COVID-19-related discrimination with adjusted factors. Results: This study included 3,626 patients who had a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Among them, 321 patients (8.9%) experienced COVID-19-related discrimination. The prevalence of probable PTSD was 19.6% (63/321) among the patients who experienced COVID-19-related discrimination, and 4.6% (152/3,305) among those who had not encountered such discrimination. The adjusted OR of COVID-19-related discrimination for probable PTSD was 4.68 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.36–6.53). The population attributable fraction of probable PTSD attributable to COVID-19-related discrimination among COVID-19 patients was estimated to be 23.4% (95% CI, 21.5–25.3%). Conclusion: The comprehensive epidemiological survey of COVID-19 patients in Japan showed that COVID-19-related discrimination was associated with a higher prevalence of probable PTSD. Mitigating discrimination could be helpful to attenuate PTSD in future pandemics.

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