ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic induced the governments around the world to impose harsher preventive measures like stay at home order, lock down etc., to contain the spread of infection. This measure increased the stress of the general population through isolation of masses, loss of employment, and loss of recreation. There is a dearth of quality data showing anxiety levels among the population and association of novel nonpharmaceutical measures such as online meditation with it. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study is a cross-sectional comparative study based on an online survey. The study population included 74 adult participants, out of which 30, included in the study group were attending structured online meditation sessions and 44 of the participants as a comparison group after matching age, gender, location of residence, and socioeconomic status. The data was collected using self-administered questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression was applied to ascertain factors contributing to the anxiety levels of the participants. RESULTS: Both the groups of participants were comparable in terms of their demographic characteristics. The mean generalized anxiety disorder (GAD 7) score among the participants of online meditation program was significantly lower as compared to those not attending any online meditation. 6.7% of the participants of online meditation had GAD 7 score more than 10 as compared to 13.6% among the comparison group (P value 0.7). CONCLUSION: "At home" mental health promotion measures such as structured online meditation can serve an important role in mitigating the mental health impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the community. Further researches are needed to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of such measures.
Subject(s)
Cell Phone Use , Cell Phone , Coronavirus Infections/transmission , Coronavirus , Disease Outbreaks/prevention & control , Health Personnel , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral/transmission , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , Coronavirus/pathogenicity , Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Cross Infection/prevention & control , Humans , Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
The ongoing pandemic of Covid-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has infected more than 6 million all over the world and has caused more than 3.8 lakh fatalities till date(1) Health workers are the frontline responders and are exposed to a plethora of health hazards. Recently, an advisory by the Indian Council of Medical Research for the use of hydroxychloroquine as post-exposure prophylaxis was hailed as an outstanding initiative for the protection of healthcare workers and high risk contacts of patients. But the evidence of effectiveness available is only from in vitro studies and non-randomised control trials of insufficient sample size. Several ongoing large scale clinical trials are focused on the same research questions, the preliminary results of which are still awaited. The present study discusses the ethics of the introduction of therapeutic or preventive interventions based on limited available evidence during the ongoing pandemic of Covid-19.
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