Ambelu Argaw, Birhanu Zewdie, Yitayih Yimenu, Kebede Yohannes, Mecha Mohammed, Abafita Jemal, Belay Ashenafi, Fufa Diriba
Department of Environmental Health Sciences and Technology, Faculty of Public Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
Departemnt of Health, Behavior, and Society, Faculty of Public Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
Ann Gen Psychiatry. 2021 Mar 25;20(1):22. doi: 10.1186/s12991-021-00344-4.
The COVID-19 pandemic led individuals to suffer from different levels of mental health problems such as psychological distress, anxiety, depression, denial, panic, and fear. This study aimed at determining the prevalence of psychological distress and associated factors among the Ethiopian population during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A cross-sectional study was performed through an online survey using different online platforms. The questionnaire was created through Google Form and the survey link was administered by e-mail, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Facebook. Educated Ethiopian population who have access to the internet were invited to participate through an online survey and addressed to 929 respondents. The study participants completed the survey anonymously without any personal identifier. The psychological distress was assessed using the Kessler 10-item tool to measure psychological distress. Data were analyzed using SPSS and logistic regression to examine mutually adjusted associations, expressed as adjusted odds ratios. A generalized additive model was also employed to identify additional predictors using R.
The prevalence of high psychological distress among the study population was 236 (25.5%). Of all respondents, 421 (45.1%) had low psychological distress, 274 (29.4%) had moderate psychological distress, 164 (17.6%) had high psychological distress, and 72 (7.3%) had very high psychological distress. Psychological distress increased with being at young and middle-aged adults, getting information from social media, and not correctly practicing infection prevention and control measures to prevent COVID-19 infection. Respondents with high perceived severity had increased psychological distress. On the contrary, those with the highest score of perceived response efficacy had low distress.
Prevalence of psychological distress was substantial. The need for intervention of psychological distress inline with the prevention of COVID-19 is critically essential. The intervention target groups are those whose information sources are from social media, young and middle-aged adults, and those who do not correctly practice infection prevention and control measures against COVID-19 infection.
新冠疫情致使个体出现不同程度的心理健康问题，如心理困扰、焦虑、抑郁、否认、恐慌和恐惧。本研究旨在确定新冠疫情期间埃塞俄比亚人群中心理困扰的患病率及相关因素。
通过使用不同在线平台进行在线调查开展一项横断面研究。问卷通过谷歌表单创建，调查链接通过电子邮件、领英、电报和脸书进行发放。邀请有互联网接入的受过教育的埃塞俄比亚人群通过在线调查参与，共面向929名受访者。研究参与者在无任何个人标识符的情况下匿名完成调查。使用凯斯勒10项量表评估心理困扰以衡量心理困扰程度。使用SPSS进行数据分析，并采用逻辑回归分析相互调整的关联，以调整后的优势比表示。还使用R语言的广义相加模型识别其他预测因素。
研究人群中高度心理困扰的患病率为236例（25.5%）。在所有受访者中，421例（45.1%）有低度心理困扰，274例（29.4%）有中度心理困扰，164例（17.6%）有高度心理困扰，72例（7.3%）有极高度心理困扰。心理困扰在青年和中年成年人中增加，从社交媒体获取信息，以及未正确实施预防新冠感染的感染预防和控制措施时也会增加。感知严重程度高的受访者心理困扰增加。相反，感知应对效能得分最高的人心理困扰较低。
心理困扰的患病率很高。结合新冠疫情防控进行心理困扰干预的需求至关重要。干预目标群体是那些信息来源为社交媒体的人群、青年和中年成年人，以及未正确实施针对新冠感染的感染预防和控制措施的人群。
