ABSTRACT
Background: Among the more than 10 million people imprisoned around the world, the rate of mental illness is higher than among the general population for various reasons. Although rates of mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety in this population may have changed as a response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak and other factors, to our knowledge, no related studies have been conducted related to depression and anxiety in this population during the pandemic. Therefore, this study aimed to assess depression, anxiety, and associated factors among Dessie City prisoners during the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: An institution-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in October 2020. A total of 420 prisoners were selected via a systematic sampling technique. PHQ-9 depression scale, generalized anxiety disorder-7 questionnaire, Oslo 3-item social support scale, insomnia severity index, and Brief COPE scale were used. Data were entered by using Epi-Data version 3.1 and finally exported to Statistical Package for Social Science Software version 21 for analysis. We fitted a multiple binary logistic regression model. Finally, an adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was reported and factors with a p-value < 0.05 were considered as significant for depression and anxiety. Results: This study showed that 279 (66.4%) of imprisoned people had major depressive disorder with 95% CI of (61.4, 70.6), while 281 (66.9) had generalized anxiety disorder with 95% CI of (61.9, 71.9). Conclusion: In this study, the overall prevalence of depression and anxiety was significantly high, and was related to a number of factors including COVID-19. Therefore, designing and implementing strategies for COVID-19 prevention and control in prisons is highly recommended to reduce mental health problems among prisoners.
ABSTRACT
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an outbreak that caused serious threats to people worldwide. Police officers are one of those frontline fighters during pandemic. Our study is the first to examine psychological health response among police officers in Ethiopia during the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: A cross-sectional study design with a self-administered questionnaire was conducted among police officers from Dessie town from June 20 to July 10, 2020. A total of 385 questionnaires were completed correctly accounting for 91% of the total. The data were collected by using demographic information and psychological health assessment tools. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and Brief Resilient Coping Scale questionnaire were used to assess depression, anxiety, sleep, and coping status of participants. Results: The rate of depression was found to be 28.9%. Of these, 19.7% had mild, 7.3% had moderate, 1.6 had moderate-severe, and 0.3% had severe depression symptoms. The rate of general anxiety symptoms was found to be 30.2%. Of these, 22.1% of the police officers had mild, 2.6% had moderate, and 5.5% had severe anxiety. Moreover, 13.8% of police officers had subthreshold insomnia and 2.1% had clinical (moderate-severe) insomnia. Participants who are men, married, highly resilient, and have high social support were associated with lower depression, anxiety, and insomnia scores than those of women, being single or widowed/divorced, low resilient coping score, and low social support, respectively. Conclusion: A psychological health problem was found to be higher among police officers in Dessie town. Younger age, sex, marital status, having chronic diseases, coping, and social support with depression, general anxiety, and insomnia were found to be significantly associated with psychological health problems. There is a need for mental health services, support, and care of police officers during the pandemic.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a major health problem throughout the world which affects over one billion people due to severe complications and inadequate control. Even though lifestyle modification is one of the most effective ways to prevent and control hypertension, only little emphasis has been given for it compared with treating hypertension with medication. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess adherence to lifestyle modifications and associated factors among hypertensive patients attending Dessie referral hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Institutional-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 301 hypertensive patients during May and June, 2020. The study participants were selected with a convenient sampling technique due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected using pre-tested and structured face to face interviewer-administered questionnaire and checked, cleaned and entered into Epi data version 4.4 and exported to SPSS version 25.0 software for analysis. The associations between independent variables and dependent variable were analyzed using binary logistic regression models. RESULTS: A total of 301 respondents participated in the study yielding a response of 100%. The overall adherence in this study was only 23.6%. Independent predictors of adherence to lifestyle modifications were divorced (AOR=0.35; 95% CI (0.13-0.94)) and widowed (AOR=0.27; 95% CI (0.10-0.75)), secondary school education (AOR=4.85; 95% CI (1.54-15.22)), no regular income (AOR=0.22; 95% CI (0.08-0.65)) or monthly income of ≥3000 ETB (AOR=5.58; 95% CI (2.46-12.66)), having co-morbidities (AOR=2.37; CI (1.23-4.57)), good knowledge about the disease (AOR=1.83; CI (0.92-3.65)) and good self-efficacy (AOR=3.64; CI (1.75-7.55)). CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The overall adherence to recommended lifestyle modifications was very low. The independent predictors were marital status, educational level, monthly income, having co-morbidities, knowledge and self-efficacy. Therefore, multifaceted and collaborative implementation of strategies about lifestyle modifications for hypertension prevention and control are needed to address barriers at the patient, provider, system and community levels.