Awareness, anxiety and coping regarding COVID-19 among South Indian population: web based cross sectional survey
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20203914Keywords:
Anxiety, Awareness, Coping, COVID-19, Pandemic, SurveyAbstract
Background: COVID-19, a highly infectious pandemic illness, has caused stress in everyone globally. It is a new situation, where no one is prepared to battle. With the currently available data, health care and the government makes guidelines and fights against this pandemic. The cooperation of the public is highly important to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19.
Methods: A web based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 519 participants using convenience snowballing technique to assess the awareness, anxiety, and coping strategies regarding COVID-19 from 14 May 2020 to 24 May 2020. The validated online Google form questionnaire consisted of demographic variables, questionnaire related to awareness on COVID-19, anxiety related to COVID-19, and coping strategies. The analysis was done using both the descriptive and inferential statistics.
Results: The majority of them were graduates and postgraduates. And 78% of them reported that no COVID-19 positive cases were identified in their area. The awareness score was 7.47±1.37 (median=8, range: 1-10). And the overall anxiety regarding COVID-19 was 47.74±11.58 (Range 17-85). On average, participants practiced 4 coping strategies ranged from 1-8 mainly ‘talking to friends and family’ and ‘taking care of diet’. Awareness was positively correlated with behavioral anxiety (r=0.103, p=0.019) and the number of coping strategies used (r=0.146, p=0.001).
Conclusions: The study showed that awareness was positively associated with hand washing, social distancing which are the parts of preventive activities. Health promotion activities in terms of health education can improve the behavioural change.
References
Corona virus. Available at: https://www.who.int/ health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1.
Li Q, Guan X, Wu P, Wang X, Zhou L, Tong Y, et al. Early transmission dynamics in Wuhan, China, of novel coronavirus-infected pneumonia. N Engl J Med. 2020;382:1199-207.
Countries where COVID-19 has spread. Worldometer. Available at: https://www. worldometers.info/coronavirus/countries-where-coronavirus-has-spread.
Clinical Care for Severe Acute Respiratory Infection. Toolkit COVID-19, WHO. Available at: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/331736/WHO-2019-nCoV-SARI_toolkit-2020.1-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report-66, WHO. Available at: https://www. who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200326-sitrep-66-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=81b94e61_2.
Guo YR, Cao QD, Hong ZS, Tan YY, Chen SD, Jin HJ, et al. The origin, transmission and clinical therapies on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak- an update on the status. Military Med Res. 2020;7(1):1.
Lauer SA, Grantz KH, Bi Q, Jones FK, Zheng Q, Meredith HR, et al. The incubation period of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from publicly reported confirmed cases: estimation and application. Ann Intern Med. 2020;172(9):577-82.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Mayo Clinic. Available at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/ diseases-conditions/coronavirus/symptoms-causes/syc-20479963
Guidelines on Clinical Management of COVID-19, Government of India Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Directorate General of Health Services. Available at: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/ RevisedNationalClinicalManagementGuidelineforCOVID1931032020.pdf.
World Health Organization. (2020). Clinical management of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) when COVID-19 disease is suspected: interim guidance, 13 March 2020. World Health Organization. Available at: https://apps.who. int/iris/handle/10665/331446.
WHO, 2020b. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report- 46. Available at: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200306-sitrep-46-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=96b04adf_2. Accessed on 31 March 2020.
WHO announces COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. World Health Organization. Available at: http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-emergencies/coronavirus-covid-19/news/news/2020/3/who-announces-covid-19-outbreak-a-pandemic.
Roy D, Tripathy S, Kar SK, Sharma N, Verma SK, Kaushal V. Study of knowledge, attitude, anxiety & perceived mental healthcare need in Indian population during COVID-19 pandemic. Asian J Psychiatr. 2020:102083.
WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard. Available at: https://covid19.who.int/?gclid=CjwKCAjw_LL2BRAkEiwAv2Y3SfGAXr5OeiN6pRMpD174SCIVRn25Un3K51p3yUo4sDFpsl9b9OPHVRoCn40QAvD_BwE (Last accessed on May 25,2020).
COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_lockdown_in_India
Ioannidis JPA. Coronavirus disease 2019: the harms of exaggerated information and non-evidence-based measures. Eur J Clin Invest. 2020:e13223.
Worldometer. COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. Available at: www.worldometers.info/coronavirus. Accessed on 24 March 2020.
Lau JT, Griffiths S, Choi KC, Tsui HY. Widespread public misconception in the early phase of the H1N1 influenza epidemic. J Infect. 2009;59:122-7.
A Lockdown Is a Solution. In India, a Lockdown Is Also Its Own Crisis. The Wire. Available at: https://thewire.in/rights/coronavirus-lockdown-authoritarianism-physical-distancing rights- elite.
What a coronavirus lockdown looks likes, and what you can do & what you can't. Available at: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/coronavirus-outbreak-what-a-lockdown-will-look-like-for-you/articleshow/74760719.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst (Last accessed on May 25, 2020).
Ebrahim SH, Ahmed QA, Gozzer E, Schlagenhauf P, Memish ZA. Covid-19 and community mitigation strategies in a pandemic. BMJ. 2020;368:m1066.
Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the
COVID-19 outbreak. Available at: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/mental-health-considerations.pdf?sfvrsn=6d3578af_2. Accessed on 23 March 2020)
What Are Anxiety Disorders? American Psychiatric Association. Available at: https://www. psychiatry.org/patients-families/anxiety-disorders.
Coping with the coronavirus pandemic for people with anxiety disorders. Harvard Health Publishing. Available at: https://www.health.harvard.edu/ blog/coping-with-the-coronavirus-pandemic-for-people-with-anxiety-disorders-2020032619327.
Sullivan AB, Kane A, Roth AJ, Davis BE, Drerup ML, Heinberg LJ. The COVID-19 crisis: a mental health perspective and response using telemedicine. J Patient Exp. 2020:2374373520922747.
Lin Y, Huang L, Nie S, Liu Z, Yu H, Yan W, et al. Knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) related to the pandemic (H1N1) 2009 among Chinese general population: a telephone survey. BMC Infect Dis. 2011;11(1):128.
9 ways to tame anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking of Health. Available at: https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/9-ways-to-tame-anxiety-during-the-covid-19-pandemic).
Geldsetzer P. Use of Rapid Online Surveys to Assess People's Perceptions During Infectious Disease Outbreaks: A Cross-sectional Survey on COVID-19. J Med Internet Res. 2020;22(4):e18790.
Zhong BL, Luo W, Li HM, Zhang QQ, Liu XG, Li WT, et al. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak: a quick online cross-sectional survey. Int J Biol Sci. 2020;16(10):1745.
Bawazir A, Al-Mazroo E, Jradi H, Ahmed A, Badri M. MERS-CoV infection: mind the public knowledge gap. J Infect Public Health. 2018;11(1):89-93.
Almutairi KM, Al Helih EM, Moussa M, Boshaiqah AE, Alajilan AS, Vinluan JM, et al. Awareness, attitudes, and practices related to coronavirus pandemic among public in Saudi Arabia. Fam Community Health . 2015;38(4):332-40.
Limcaoco RS, Mateos EM, Fernandez JM, Roncero C. Anxiety, worry and perceived stress in the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, March 2020. Preliminary results. MedRxiv. 2020
Wang C, Pan R, Wan X, Tan Y, Xu L, Ho CS, et al. Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(5):1729.
Cao W, Fang Z, Hou G, Han M, Xu X, Dong J, et al. The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatr Res. 2020;287:112934.