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Original Study
| Published: August 18, 2021
Prevalence and factors influencing COVID-19 Anxiety among Nepalese Population during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Central Department of Psychology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal Google Scholar More about the auther
Department of Psychology, Tribhuvan University, Trichandra Multiple Campus, Nepal Google Scholar More about the auther
Padma Kanya Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Nepal Google Scholar More about the auther
Masters in Counseling Psychology Program, Tribhuvan University, Nepal Google Scholar More about the auther
The School of Psychology Nepal & Padma Kanya Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Nepal Google Scholar More about the auther
Padma Kanya Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Nepal Google Scholar More about the auther
Central Department of Psychology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal Google Scholar More about the auther
DIP: 18.01.076.20210903
DOI: 10.25215/0903.076
ABSTRACT
Global health epidemics or pandemics have short and long-term negative psychological impacts, including anxiety, in people everywhere. We thus investigated the prevalence of COVID-19 anxiety among the general population aged ≥18 years. A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted using a self-selected convenience sampling method among 546 participants. Participants completed a five-item Corona Virus Anxiety Scale, a measure of COVID-19 anxiety. We used SPSS software to perform descriptive and inferential analysis. The majority of the participants were <29 years (88.6%), females (71.4%), Unmarried (87%), residing in urban areas (91.2%), completed college education (50.7%), and belonging to a nuclear family (76.2%). Health status showed almost 6% were suffering from some chronic illnesses, 19% experienced sleep problems, approximately 21% were from the COVID-19 risk zone, and approximately 25% were not satisfied with their present health status. About 8.1% of the total respondents had a high level of COVID anxiety, and COVID-19 anxiety was more prevalent among women, those who were married, respondents from the rural setting, those residing in an extended family, students, and those who had school education. COVID anxiety was higher among those suffering from chronic illness, those who were not satisfied with their current health status, those having sleep problems, and those from the COVID-19 risk zone. Logistic regression showed that sex and education had a significant association with COVID-19 anxiety. There is a need for increased knowledge and awareness on COVID-19 as well as mental health issues associated with it. The government should take initiatives to provide such services for the general population and those at increased risk.
Keywords
This is an Open Access Research distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any Medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
© 2021, Bhatta K R, Shrestha P, Khati K, Joshi P R, Thagunna N S, Shrestha K & Pokharel T P
Received: May 31, 2021; Revision Received: July 28, 2021; Accepted: August 18, 2021
Article Overview
ISSN 2348-5396
ISSN 2349-3429
18.01.076.20210903
10.25215/0903.076
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Published in Volume 09, Issue 3, July- September, 2021