Analysis of Psychosocial Impact on Health Care Workers and General population of India during COVID 19 Pandemic using HAM-A scale.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The frequency of outbreaks, pandemics is increasing across the globe which can be probably due to increased medical tourism, expansion of international exchange, travel and global warming. COVID-19 outbreak spread across the world within a few months of initiation from Wuhan City of China and affected all the countries across the globe except Antarctica. From the psychopathological view, this current COVID -19 is a stressor, trauma or stigma for health care workers as well as general population. Mental health and psychosocial consequences of COVID 19 has a serious impact on various categories of people : a) those directly involved with viral overload b) health care workers c) general population who are following social media d) quarantined individuals and their family members. The aim of our study was to determine the unforeseen psychosocial impact of COVID 19 pandemic on mental status of health care workers and general population.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A cross sectional online survey using an anonymous questionnaire using snowball sampling strategy was done. The study included 480 respondents, out of which 197 were health care workers and 283 were general population. The participation was totally voluntary. Data collection took place over fifteen days .We included additional questions which were related to COVID-19 outbreak. The structured questionnaire used, consisted of questions that covered several areas. Anxiety level was assessed based on Hamilton Anxiety Rating scale ranging from 0-4 , consisted of 14 items.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

According to Hamilton anxiety rating scale it was seen that out of 197 health care workers, 27% had mild anxiety (<17), 18.7% had mild to moderate (18-24), 17.7% had moderate to severe (25-30), and 35.5% had very severe(>31). Out of 283 respondents representing general population, 26.14% had mild anxiety (<17), 17.31% had mild to moderate (18-24), 19.08% had moderate to severe (25-30), 37.45% had very severe(>31). The two groups were analyzed statistically, Z test applied between the two groups and it was found that the difference between the mean was found to be statistically significant with p value < 0.0001. The confidence interval was kept at 95%. Concerns about one's own health and that of their beloved ones (particularly elderly or suffering from any physical illness), as well as uncertainty about the future, can generate or exacerbate fear, depression, and anxiety.