Anxiety Among Indian Students in Duration of Covid-19 Lockdown: A Survey Based Study

Authors

  • Kashif Ali Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi Author
  • Umamah Mufti Research Scholar, Department of Environmental Sciences, Amity University, Noida, UP. Author
  • Aliya Mufti Senior Research Fellow, Department of Physiology, AIIMS, New Delhi Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21276/0k5qya83

Keywords:

Autonomic Function Test, Parasympathetic Activity, Sympathetic Activity, Healthy Subjects

Abstract

Background: People are at risk of mental health issues due to lockdown. Indian Government enforced the stringent measures for implementing lockdown on 25th March 2020 to protect the people from the COVID-19 pandemic infection, but universities and colleges were closed earlier. Pandemic led to psychological illnesses like anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorders in general public as well as in students. GAD-7 scale is a screening tool to measure anxiety. We aim to assess the anxiety levels in college students during lockdown using GAD-7 scale.

Methods: An online anonymous survey was conducted among university students to find out the level of anxiety among college students from 21st to 31st July 2020. They were assessed using GAD-7 score and students were grouped in various levels on the basis of their score.

Results: 55.96% of the students were found having symptoms of anxiety with 36.01% having mild anxiety, 13.99% with moderate anxiety and 5.96% with severe anxiety.

Conclusions: COVID-19 lockdown has affected mental health in all ages including students. We should focus on mental wellbeing of all age groups including students. Government should focus on anxiety and mental health of students by online counseling through its tele-education TV channels and online portals.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

S. Gupta, “How social distancing may affect mental health,” ScienceNews, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/coronavirus-covid-19-social- distancing-psychological-fallout. [Accessed: 31-Mar-2020].

E. A. Holmes et al., “Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic: a call for action for mental health science,” The Lancet Psychiatry, vol. 0366, no. 20, pp. 1–14, 2020.

S. F. K. Maideen, S. M. Sidik, L. Rampal, and F. Mukhtar, “Prevalence, associated factors and predictors of anxiety: A community survey in Selangor, Malaysia,” BMC Psychiatry, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 1–12, 2015.

“Anxiety and physical illness,” Harvard Health, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/anxiety_and_physical_illness. [Accessed: 18-Apr-2020].

H. Jeong et al., “Mental health status of people isolated due to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome,” Epidemiol. Health, vol. 38, p. e2016048, 2016.

Mak I.W.C., Chu C.M., Pan P.C. Risk factors for chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in SARS survivors. Gen Hosp Psychiatr. 2010;32(6):590–598.

B. Wild et al., “Assessing generalized anxiety disorder in elderly people using the GAD-7 and GAD-2 scales: Results of a validation study,” Am. J. Geriatr. Psychiatry, vol. 22, no. 10, pp. 1029–1038, 2014.

G. J. Rubin and S. Wessely, “The psychological effects of quarantining a city,” BMJ,

vol. 368, no. January, pp. 1–2, 2020.

S. K. Brooks et al., “The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it:

rapid review of the evidence,” Lancet, vol. 395, no. 10227, pp. 912–920, 2020.

10.BBC, “Coronavirus: India defiant as millions struggle under lockdown.” [Online]. Available: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52077395. [Accessed: 30-

Mar-2020].

11.N. Davis, “‘Urgent studies needed’ into mental health impact of coronavirus,” The

Guardian, 15-Apr-2020.

12.Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JBW, Löwe B. A Brief Measure for Assessing Generalized Anxiety Disorder: The GAD-7. Arch Intern Med. 2006;166(10):1092–1097

13.Prevalence of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress among Young Male Adults in India. December 2010The Journal of nervous and mental disease 198(12):901-4

14.S. K. Brooks et al., “The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it:

rapid review of the evidence,” Lancet, vol. 395, no. 10227, pp. 912–920, 2020.

M. R. Taylor, K. E. Agho, G. J. Stevens, and B. Raphael, “Factors influencing psychological distress during a disease epidemic: Data from Australia’s first outbreak of equine influenza,” BMC Public Health, vol. 8, pp. 1–13, 2008.

N. Davis, “‘Urgent studies needed’ into mental health impact of coronavirus,” The Guardian, 15-Apr-2020.

A. Hinz et al., “Psychometric evaluation of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener GAD-7, based on a large German general population sample,” J. Affect. Disord., vol. 210, pp. 338–344, 2017.

R. D. Kocalevent, A. Hinz, E. Brähler, and B. F. Klapp, “Determinants of fatigue and stress,” BMC Res. Notes, vol. 4, no. 238, pp. 1–5, 2011.

Downloads

Published

12.03.2024

Issue

Section

ORIGINAL ARTICLES ~ Human Physiology

Similar Articles

1-10 of 236

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.

Most read articles by the same author(s)