Qualitative Study on Emotional Experiences and Coping Strategies in Patients With COVID-19 During the Early Stage of Wuhan Crisis

Objective: In the early stage of COVID-19 pandemic from December 2019 to March 2020, COVID-19 patients endured huge mental stress combined with constant physiological suffering. We aimed to summarize the emotional experiences of patients with COVID-19 during the early stages of the Wuhan crisis and present the coping strategies they used during the extreme time.

Methods: We did a qualitative study using an empirical phenomenology approach. COVID-19 patients with recovery and near discharge were recruited from the Dawu County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Hubei province using purposive sampling. Semistructured face-to-face interviews were conducted by frontline medical staff and recorded by video and audio, then transcribed by two researchers separately. The Haase adapted version of the Colaizzi method was used to analyze the transcriptional data.

Results: We included 18 adult survivors of COVID-19 (33% female, 67% male) within the age range of 27–83 (mean age 48), and the average duration of isolation was 31.17 days. In conjunction with clinical data, we meticulously delved into the emotional trajectory of each survivor, spanning from the onset of illness through the phases of decline, improvement, and eventual recovery. Three theme categories were obtained from data analysis, including negative emotions and sources, coping strategies, and positive emotions and sources. COVID-19 patients adopted self-management strategies and received support from different roles when confronting high level of negative emotions.

Conclusions: Early survivors of COVID-19 experienced both negative and positive emotional experiences. Anxiety and other negative emotions were originated from both collective and individual concerns. The influence of the emotion sources differed at each stage of the disease. Patients coped with these stressors using external supports and self-adjustment. Still, comprehensive and targeted psychological services are needed.