Comparative study on the depression, anxiety, and some risk factors among different nationalities during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic | ||
| Journal of the Arab Society for Medical Research | ||
| Volume 20, Issue 1, January 2025, Pages 34-43 PDF (126.87 K) | ||
| DOI: 10.4103/jasmr.jasmr_32_24 | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Background/aim Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic can cause widespread anxiety, panic, and worry. The viral pandemic may be triggered by a parallel shadow pandemic of mental illness, including corona-phobia in adults and children. Monitoring of mental health during crises is an immediate priority. The present study aims to compare the depression and anxiety effects of coronavirus pandemic on the general population of different ages and different countries and to highlight risk factors of depression during the pandemic. Patients and methods This observational cross-sectional study was conducted through an online questionnaire using Google forms with a total sample of 1573 participants from Egypt and other countries aged from 7 to 66 years old. The participants filled out an online survey for assessment of their sociodemographic characteristics and their psychological status using Beck’s Depression Inventory. Data was analyzed using SPSS. Results Depression was detected in 74.0% of cases, mainly mild, moderate, moderately severe, and severe (34.0, 21.0, 12.8, and 6.1% of all cases, respectively). The most common sources of worry related to the COVID-19 pandemic were worry about family (70.0%), worry about getting infected (32.2%), and worry about being hospitalized (23.8%). Depression among Egyptian, other Arabic, Western, and Asian nationalities was 75.7, 68.3, 50.9, and 50.0%, respectively. Being Egyptian, single, and aged below 50.0 years, as well as worrying about hospitalization, financial impacts, death, and prayer limitations, were risk factors for depression. While being a male and getting a university or postgraduate education were protective factors, however, all participants had variable degrees of anxiety related to COVID-19; notably, nearly 16% of the patients had moderate-to-severe and severe anxiety. The overall prevalence of anxiety was 29.6%. Conclusion Mild depression is common among the study participants. Worry about hospitalization, financial impacts, death, and prayer limitations were modifiable risk factors for having depression. | ||
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