Mental health of young people amidst COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh - PubMed (original) (raw)

Mental health of young people amidst COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh

Md Abdullah Saeed Khan et al. Heliyon. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

Background: The psychological burden of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak and lockdown strategy among young people not diagnosed with COVID-19 in the general population remains unknown and often have been overlooked. The objective of the study was to assess the prevalence and predictors of anxiety, depression and stress among young people diagnosed with COVID-19 of Bangladesh amidst the pandemic.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted from 1 May to 30 May 2020 using an online Google form-based questionnaire posted on Facebook. A snowball sampling approach was used for data collection. A total of 974 self-declared healthy individuals not diagnosed with COVID-19 participated here. Anxiety, depression and stress were measured using Bangla validated Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) scale, and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), respectively. Statistical software SPSS 20 was used for analysis.

Result: Average age of the population was 25.86 ± 6.26 (SD) years with nearly half (48.6%) of them being young people (15 to ≤24 years). Most of the participants were male (76.3%). The overall prevalence of anxiety, depression and stress was found to be 64.1%, 73.3% and 69.4%, respectively. Young people had significantly higher proportion of anxiety (67.2% vs 61.1%), and depression (78.2% vs 68.7%) compared to adults (p = 0.045 and p < 0.001, respectively). However, most of the participants had mild depression (30.3%), minimal anxiety (31.4%), and moderate stress (67.5%), and severity of depression and anxiety was higher in the young participants. The mean GAD-7, PHQ-9 and PSS scores were 7.57 ± 5.61, 9.19 ± 6.15 and 16.02 ± 5.55 (SD), respectively. On multivariable logistic analysis, unemployment (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 3.642; Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.005-13.200; p < 0.05) was the single most important predictor of depression. For stress, unemployment (AOR 1.399; CI: 1.055-1.855), and female sex (AOR 1.638; CI: 1.158-2.317) were significant predictors.

Conclusion: Anxiety, depression and stress were highly prevalent among young people (≤24 years) not diagnosed with COVID-19 in Bangladesh amidst the pandemic. Unemployment is the most common underlying determinant. Authorities should address the issue on a priority basis.

Keywords: Anxiety; COVID-19; Depression; GAD-7; Lockdown; Not diagnosed; PHQ-9; Stress.

© 2021 The Author(s).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

Prevalence of anxiety, depression and stress among the participants (n = 974). Anxiety was defined as having a GAD-7 scale score ≥5 (mild to severe anxiety). Depression was defined as having a PHQ-9 scale score ≥5 (mild to severe depression). Stress was defined as having a PSS scale score ≥14 (moderate to high stress). A score below these cut-off points were considered negative for corresponding scale. Age ≤24 years was considered young adult and >24 years was considered adult. _p_-value was determined by Chi-square test.

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