COVID-19 infodemic and depressive symptoms: The impact of the exposure to news about COVID-19 on the general Paraguayan population.
J Affect Disord
; 298(Pt A): 599-603, 2022 02 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1527723
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase of social stressors and mental health issues in the general population as well as among mentally ill patients. A COVID-19- related "infodemic", including too much information in digital and physical environments, has been recognized globally.AIM:
This study aimed to describe the impact of COVID-19 infodemic (exposure to news related to COVID-19) in terms of depressive symptoms in the Paraguayan general population.METHODS:
This was a descriptive and cross-sectional study. An online survey, designed in Google Forms, has been launched nationwide through the most popular social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and messaging applications (WhatsApp, Telegram) in April (1st-30th) 2021. The Mental Health Inventory-5 (MHI-5) was employed for detecting depressive symptoms.RESULTS:
The survey included 1102 responders aged 35.4 ± 12.9 years old, 74.9% were women. MHI-5 mean score was 44.07 ± 14.16 in the general population with 34.4% (n = 379) of responders suffering from severe symptoms of depression (>52, as cut-off point). 53.5% of sample reported to have been exposed between 1 and 3 h to COVID-19 news, daily. An OR 1.933 (95% CI 1.48 - 2.52) was found between the exposure to news and depressive symptoms.CONCLUSIONS:
This study suggests that people exposed to a higher number of hours of COVID-19 news were 93.3% more likely to develop depressive symptoms.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Middle aged
/
Young adult
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Paraguay
Language:
English
Journal:
J Affect Disord
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.jad.2021.11.036
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