ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: As a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, many countries have imposed movement restrictions and implemented lockdowns. However, evidence from a variety of nations showed that the COVID-19 outbreak and its associated quarantine measures triggered a wide range of psychological problems, such as anxiety, depression, and stress in the general population. As a result, the purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and predictors of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms among Tepi town residents during the pandemic lockdown. METHODOLOGY: A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among residents of Tepi town from September 15 through September 25, 2020, and residents who have lived in Tepi town for at least 6 months were included. We have employed the depression, anxiety, and stress scale 21 (DASS-21) to evaluate depression, anxiety, and stress. The Chi-squared test of association and logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with depression, anxiety, and stress among residents of Tepi town. For all statistical analysis, we used (IBM) SPSS version 25. RESULTS: According to the current study, the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms were 37.7%, 39.0%, and 44.2%, respectively, among residents of Tepi town. Estimated odds of having depression, anxiety, and stress were as follows: for being female 6.315, 4.591, and 3.155; smoking 1.787, 1.883, and 1.787; sleep problem 2.613, 2.254, and 1.721; chewing Khat 2.156, 2.053, and 2.110; quarantine for 14 days 2.251, 1.902, and 1.960; and frequent use of social media 3.126, 1.849, and 3.126 times more likely as compared to their corresponding reference group respectively. The odds of developing depression and anxiety respectively were as follows: for alcohol consumption 2.438 and 1.797 times higher than their corresponding reference group respectively. Those exposed to COVID-19 were 3.870 times more likely to develop depression symptoms. Estimated odds of having anxiety and stress symptoms for fear of COVID-19 were 1.776 and 1.835; social interactions altered were 3.197 and 2.069, moderate levels of hope were 2.687 and 2.849 respectively. The odds ratio for those taking traditional preventive medicine, and having family members infected with COVID-19 were 2.475 and 1.837 times more likely to experience anxiety symptoms respectively. CONCLUSION: In this study, the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms was found to be high among residences in Tepi town. Being female, chewing Khat, smoking, being quarantined for 14 days, frequently using social media, and having sleeping problems were all found to be significantly associated with an increased risk of developing depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms, whereas alcohol consumption and family members infected by COVID-19 were considerably linked to depression and anxiety symptoms. Fear of COVID-19, influence on social interaction and having a moderate level of hope were substantially related to stress and anxiety symptoms, while taking preventive medicine was found to be a significant factor in anxiety symptoms among Tepi town residences. Interventions should be made to improve the mental health of Tepi residents.
ABSTRACT
Background: Today, coronavirus disease-19 has left a permanent dark mark on the history of human beings. The ongoing global pandemic outbreak of COVID-19 has spread to 58 African countries, with over 6.07 million confirmed cases and over 151,412 deaths. The five high burden African countries are South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Ethiopia, and Libya, with case fatality rates (CFR) of nearly 0.15%, 0.042%, 0.22%, 0.006%, and 0.086%, respectively. This is why the research aims to adequately understand the transmission dynamics of the virus and its variants in five high-burden African countries. Methods: Our study is a deterministic model, where the population is partitioned into five components on the epidemiological state of the individuals. We presented a year-structured susceptible, infected, mild severs, critical severe, and recover (SIMCR) compartmental model of COVID-19 disease transmission with incidence rate during the pandemic period. Results: The number of susceptible individuals increased by 30,711,930 in South Africa, 5,919,837 in Morocco, 3,485,020 in Tunisia, 7,833,642 in Ethiopia, and 2,145,404 in Libya in the next 3 decades with compare to the unvaccinated population and the number of infected individuals decreased by 30,479,271 in South Africa, 19,809,751 in Morocco, 3,456,406 in Tunisia, 7,761,993 in Ethiopia, and 2,125,038 in Libya. Conclusion: SIMCR model is used to describe the transmission of COVID-19 among five high-burden African countries. For the next 30 years, we will have around 86 million infected individuals and millions of death only in those five African countries. To reduce those problems, vaccination is the best and most effective mechanism. So vaccinating half of the populations in those countries helps to control and reduce the transmission rate of COVID-19 in Africa for the next 30 years. This leads to preventing 17,212,405 people from becoming infected and millions of deaths being reduced in those five high-burden African countries.
ABSTRACT
Background: Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by excessive and uncontrollable worry about a variety of events. It is critical to ensure a pregnant mother's mental health in order to reduce pregnancy and birth-related problems. The major goal of current study was to identify the factors associated with generalized anxiety disorder among mothers attending perinatal services in the study area during COVID-19 using ordinal logistic regression. Methods: The institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from July 10th, 2020 to August 10th, 2020 at Kembata Tembaro zone, Southern Ethiopia. The current study included 423 mothers. The GAD-7 scale was used to assess the anxiety level among mothers. An Ordered logit model was used to identify the determinants of GAD. Brant test of the parallel line was utilized to check proportionality assumption. The statistical significance was determined using an adjusted proportional odd ratio with a 95%CI, and a p-value <5%. STATA software version 14 was used to analyze statistical data. Results: Of all 423 mothers attending perinatal service during COVID-19; 134(31.7%), 171(40.4%), 85(20.1%), and 33 (7.8%) had non/minimal to severe generalized anxiety disorder respectively. The results of multivariable proportional odds model (POM) showed that the variables town residents [aPOR = 1.827; 95% CI:1.233-2.708], having alcohol habit [aPOR = 3.437, 95% CI = 1.397-8.454], having occupation [aPOR = 0.509, 95% CI: 0.303-0.857], being health care worker [aPOR = 0.117, 95% CI = 0.044-0.311], having chronic illness [aPOR = 7.685, 95% CI = 3.045-19.39], having family history of anxiety/mood disorder [aPOR = 7.839, 95% CI = 2.656-23.12], fear of contracting COVID-19 [aPOR = 1.704, 95% CI = 1.152-2.521], having moderate social support [aPOR = 0.648, 95% CI = 0.425-0.989], having strong social support [aPOR = 0.495, 95% CI = 0.272-0.901] were significantly associated with generalized anxiety disorder at 5% level of significance. Conclusion: Current findings concluded that the prevalence of GAD among mothers attending perinatal service during COVID-19 was high. The covariates like being town resident, lower-income status, occupation status, having a chronic illness, having a positive family history of anxiety or mood disorder, perceived social support, and fear of the COVID-19 were significantly associated with generalized anxiety disorder among mothers. Mothers who visit perinatal services should be given special consideration to improve health care services and ensure their mental health.