Neuroscience Research Center, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon.
PLoS One. 2022 Jul 27;17(7):e0270567. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0270567. eCollection 2022.
The COVID-19 pandemic was one of the most devastating health crises the world has seen. One of its mental health consequences includes fear of being infected, which could lead to anxiety. This study aimed to assess the fear related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated factors among the adult population in Lebanon.
A cross-sectional study was conducted in Lebanon between February 26th and April 29th, 2021. Data was collected through an online survey among adults aged 18 years and older. Information on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the participants, fear and death anxiety related to the COVID-19 pandemic, depression, and anxiety were collected. Multivariable linear regression analyses were carried out to identify the predictors of fear related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A total of 1840 participants were included in the analysis of which 62.9% were females and 62.2% were single. The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 70 years with a mean of 26.6 ±8.8 years. Of the total participants, 41.9% felt uncomfortable thinking about the novel Coronavirus and 35.4% of candidates became nervous/anxious when watching the news about COVID-19 on social media. About one-third of the participants (33.7%) were afraid of COVID-19 and 23.8% were afraid of losing their life because of the disease. Concerning somatic symptoms of fear, 7.9% reported increased heart races or palpitations whenever they thought about getting infected with COVID-19, 3.7% complained about sleep disturbances while 2.5% developed tremors or sweating in their hands when they thought about Coronavirus. In addition, Death anxiety related to the COVID-19 pandemic was one of the most fear-related factors (B = 0.191, 95% CI (0.172 to 0.211), P-value < 0.0001).
This study provides insights on the impact of COVID-19 on individuals at the level of fear in Lebanon. Death anxiety was identified as the most significant predictor of fear related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering the negative psychological effects of fear, it is necessary to educate the adults on how to deal with death anxiety and implement psychological interventions and counseling programs to relieve fear and improve the mental health of Lebanese adults.
COVID-19 大流行是世界上最具破坏性的卫生危机之一。其心理健康后果之一是对感染的恐惧，这可能导致焦虑。本研究旨在评估黎巴嫩成年人中与 COVID-19 大流行相关的恐惧及其相关因素。
本横断面研究于 2021 年 2 月 26 日至 4 月 29 日在黎巴嫩进行。通过对 18 岁及以上成年人的在线调查收集数据。收集了参与者的社会人口学和临床特征、与 COVID-19 大流行相关的恐惧和死亡焦虑、抑郁和焦虑信息。进行多变量线性回归分析以确定与 COVID-19 大流行相关的恐惧的预测因素。
共有 1840 名参与者纳入分析，其中 62.9%为女性，62.2%为单身。参与者年龄在 18 至 70 岁之间，平均年龄为 26.6 ±8.8 岁。在总参与者中，41.9%的人一想到新型冠状病毒就感到不舒服，35.4%的人在社交媒体上看到有关 COVID-19 的新闻时会感到紧张/焦虑。约三分之一的参与者（33.7%）害怕 COVID-19，23.8%担心因该疾病而失去生命。关于恐惧的躯体症状，7.9%的人只要一想到感染 COVID-19，就会心跳加速或心悸，3.7%的人抱怨睡眠障碍，而 2.5%的人只要一想到冠状病毒，手就会颤抖或出汗。此外，与 COVID-19 相关的死亡焦虑是与恐惧最相关的因素之一（B=0.191，95%CI（0.172 至 0.211），P 值<0.0001）。
本研究提供了有关 COVID-19 在黎巴嫩对个人恐惧水平的影响的见解。死亡焦虑被确定为与 COVID-19 大流行相关的恐惧的最显著预测因素。鉴于恐惧的负面心理影响，有必要对成年人进行如何应对死亡焦虑的教育，并实施心理干预和咨询计划，以减轻恐惧并改善黎巴嫩成年人的心理健康。
