Psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on adults: Time for a holistic approach

ABSTRACT

Background: COVID outbreak has escalated the burden of psychological distress and developing countries are struggling to manage cases and prevent deaths. To create a holistic approach its necessary to understand the psychological status during pandemic. Hence a study was conducted to evaluate psychological status of adults during COVID pandemic and to assess the relationship between psychological status and sociodemographic factors. Methods: Cross sectional study design and snow ball sampling technique was employed. The study was conducted on 647 adults using online based questionnaire distributed through the social media application and Email between April 2021 and june 2021. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) were used to assess depression and anxiety respectively along with Socio-demographic details and COVID-19 status. Results: 64.60% belonged to age group 18-24 years, 55.17% were females, 72% of them were unmarried and 61.8% were not working. Mean scores of PHQ-9 were 7.42�01 and GAD-7 was 5.78�23. There was a significant positive correlation between PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores. 13.44% of participants reported severe depression category and 6.64% reported severe anxiety. Significant higher grades of severe depression and anxiety was found among Age <25 years and who studied up to graduate compared to their counter parts (p<0.05). Conclusion: Prevalence of anxiety and depression are high among general population during COVID pandemic. The psychological impact of COVID-19 on general population should be recognized as a public health priority by health care providers and policy makers who should urgently adopt strategies for a holistic approach in COVID pandemic.