Sultana Mst Sadia, Khan Abid Hasan, Hossain Sahadat, Hasan M Tasdik
Department of Public Health and Informatics, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Public Health Foundation, Bangladesh.
Child Youth Serv Rev. 2021 Sep;128:106137. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106137. Epub 2021 Jul 2.
Mental health problems are taking a heavy toll on students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to compare the level of anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and fear of COVID-19 between students with suspected COVID-19 symptoms and students without any suspected symptoms during the pandemic in Bangladesh.
This cross-sectional comparative study was conducted online among Bangladeshi students from May to July 2020. Anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, PTSS, and fear of COVID-19 were assessed by using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale, Patient Health Questionnaire, the Impact of Event Scale, and Fear of COVID-19 Scale, respectively. College and University students were the participants of the study.
Among 3777 students, 1259 had suspected COVID-19 symptoms and 2518 had no suspected COVID-19 symptoms. Students who experienced suspected COVID-19 symptoms had higher prevalence (moderate to severe) of depressive symptoms (61.15% vs. 47.62%), anxiety symptoms (44.96% vs. 36.97%), and PTSS (48.3% vs. 39.75%) compared to those who had no such symptoms. The study identified having suspected COVID-19 symptoms as a significant associated factor for anxiety symptoms (β1' = 1.39; 95% CI: 1.03-1.74), depressive symptoms (β1' = 1.88; 95% CI: 1.43-2.32), PTSS (β1' = 3.66; 95% CI: 2.66-4.65), and fear of COVID-19 (β1' = 0.48; 95% CI: 0.02 to 0.94). Students with suspected COVID-19 symptoms thought more that they would be better off dead, or of hurting themselves (P < 0.01) and felt more afraid as if something awful might happen (P < 0.01) than their counterparts.
Mental health difficulties are more prevalent among students with suspected COVID-19 symptoms than the students without having such symptoms. This finding suggests that public health practitioners should deploy a rapid diagnostic system and consider psychological intervention in addition to clinical management for those who have COVID-19 like symptoms during the pandemic.
在新冠疫情期间，心理健康问题给学生带来了沉重负担。本研究的目的是比较孟加拉国疫情期间有新冠疑似症状的学生和无任何疑似症状的学生在焦虑症状、抑郁症状、创伤后应激症状（PTSS）以及对新冠的恐惧程度方面的差异。
这项横断面比较研究于2020年5月至7月在孟加拉国学生中通过网络进行。焦虑症状、抑郁症状、PTSS以及对新冠的恐惧分别使用广泛性焦虑障碍量表、患者健康问卷、事件影响量表和对新冠的恐惧量表进行评估。研究参与者为大学生。
在3777名学生中，1259名有新冠疑似症状，2518名无新冠疑似症状。与无此类症状的学生相比，有新冠疑似症状的学生抑郁症状（中度至重度）、焦虑症状和PTSS的患病率更高（分别为61.15%对47.62%、44.96%对36.97%、48.3%对39.75%）。该研究确定有新冠疑似症状是焦虑症状（β1' = 1.39；95%置信区间：1.03 - 1.74）、抑郁症状（β1' = 1.88；95%置信区间：1.43 - 2.32）、PTSS（β1' = 3.66；95%置信区间：2.66 - 4.65）以及对新冠恐惧（β1' = 0.48；95%置信区间：0.02至0.94）的一个显著相关因素。有新冠疑似症状的学生比其同龄人更常认为自己死了会更好，或有伤害自己的想法（P < 0.01），并且更害怕好像会有可怕的事情发生（P < 0.01）。
有新冠疑似症状的学生中，心理健康问题比无此类症状的学生更为普遍。这一发现表明，公共卫生从业者应部署快速诊断系统，并在疫情期间对有新冠样症状的人除临床管理外还应考虑心理干预。
