Prevenance rate and related factors of anxiety among the public before and after outbreak of COVID-19 / 四川精神卫生

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo investigate the prevenance rate and related factors of anxiety among the public before and after outbreak of COVID-19， and to provide scientific guidance for public health emergency response in psychological intervention field. MethodsBy using the convenient sampling method， residents in Chinese mainland participated in predesigned questionnaire survey from February 7th to February 14th， 2020， meantime， all the selected individuals were assessed using Self-rating Anxiety Scale （SAS）. The anxiety status was also retrospectively evaluated before January 20th， prior to the outbreak. Thereafter， a before-and-after comparison was conducted on the anxiety status， and the related influencing factors were discussed. ResultsA total of 1 222 valid questionnaires were collected， with a valid rate of 93.8%. After the outbreak， the number of people with anxiety symptoms increased from 90 （7.4%） to 172 （14.1%）， with statistical difference （P<0.01）. The SAS score increased from （40.65±10.43） to （36.32±8.46）， with statistical difference （P<0.01）. For overall sample， the independent risk factors of anxiety aggravation included serious disruptions of daily life （P<0.01）， older age （P<0.01）， female （P<0.01）， poor education background （P=0.005）， occupied in medical staff （P=0.031） and lack of medical education （P=0.039）. For medical staff， the independent risk factors of anxiety aggravation included sense of being-alienated （P<0.01）， older age （P<0.01）， female （P=0.002） and serious disruptions of daily life （P=0.044）. ConclusionThe prevalence rate of anxiety is increased after the outbreak of COVID-19， especially among the general public with serious disruptions of daily life， older age， females， poor education background， and the lack of medical education， and among medical staff with sense of being-alienated， older age， females， and serious disruptions of daily life.