Advanced Medical and Dental Institute, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Bertam, Kepala Batas, Penang, Malaysia.
Faculty of Medicine, Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
PLoS One. 2021 Sep 10;16(9):e0257304. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257304. eCollection 2021.
The COVID-19 pandemic has enormously affected the psychological well-being, social and working life of millions of people across the world. This study aimed to investigate the psychological distress, fear and coping strategies as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated factors among Malaysian residents.
Participants were invited to an online cross-sectional survey from Aug-Sep 2020. The study assessed psychological distress using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, level of fear using the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, and coping strategies using the Brief Resilient Coping Scale. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to adjust for potential confounders.
The mean age (±SD) of the participants (N = 720) was 31.7 (±11.5) years, and most of them were females (67.1%). Half of the participants had an income source, while 216 (30%) identified themselves as frontline health or essential service workers. People whose financial situation was impacted due to COVID-19 (AOR 2.16, 95% CIs 1.54-3.03), people who drank alcohol in the last four weeks (3.43, 1.45-8.10), people who were a patient (2.02, 1.39-2.93), and had higher levels of fear of COVID-19 (2.55, 1.70-3.80) were more likely to have higher levels of psychological distress. Participants who self-isolated due to exposure to COVID-19 (3.12, 1.04-9.32) and who had moderate to very high levels of psychological distress (2.56, 1.71-3.83) had higher levels of fear. Participants who provided care to a family member/patient with a suspected case of COVID-19 were more likely to be moderately to highly resilient compared to those who did not.
Vulnerable groups of individuals such as patients and those impacted financially during COVID-19 should be supported for their mental wellbeing. Behavioural interventions should be targeted to reduce the impact of alcohol drinking during such crisis period.
COVID-19 大流行极大地影响了全世界数百万人的心理健康、社会和工作生活。本研究旨在调查马来西亚居民因 COVID-19 大流行及其相关因素而产生的心理困扰、恐惧和应对策略。
2020 年 8 月至 9 月期间，邀请参与者参加在线横断面调查。该研究使用 Kessler 心理困扰量表评估心理困扰程度，使用 COVID-19 恐惧量表评估恐惧程度，使用简明韧性应对量表评估应对策略。使用单变量和多变量逻辑回归分析调整潜在混杂因素。
参与者（N=720）的平均年龄（±SD）为 31.7（±11.5）岁，其中大多数为女性（67.1%）。一半的参与者有收入来源，而 216 人（30%）认为自己是一线卫生或基本服务工作者。因 COVID-19 而受经济影响的人（AOR 2.16，95%CI 1.54-3.03）、过去四周内饮酒的人（3.43，1.45-8.10）、曾是患者的人（2.02，1.39-2.93）以及对 COVID-19 的恐惧程度较高的人（2.55，1.70-3.80）更有可能出现较高水平的心理困扰。因接触 COVID-19 而自我隔离的人（3.12，1.04-9.32）和心理困扰程度中度至高度较高的人（2.56，1.71-3.83）更恐惧。与没有照顾疑似 COVID-19 患者的家庭成员/患者的人相比，照顾疑似 COVID-19 患者的家庭成员/患者的人更有可能具有中度至高度的韧性。
应支持 COVID-19 期间的患者等弱势群体的心理健康。应针对此类危机期间减少饮酒行为的影响实施行为干预。
