Bassi Shalini, Nazar Gaurang P, Joshi Nishigandha, Sharma Nitika, Pandian Aishwarya, Deepa Mohan, Mohan Sailesh, Patel Shivani A, Ali Mohammed K, McNeill Ann, Tandon Nikhil, Mohan Viswanathan, Prabhakaran Dorairaj, Arora Monika
Health Promotion Division, Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, India.
Health Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth (HRIDAY), New Delhi, India.
Front Psychiatry. 2022 Aug 23;13:964949. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.964949. eCollection 2022.
The world witnessed a highly contagious and deadly disease, COVID-19, toward the end of 2019. India is one of the worst affected countries. We aimed to assess anxiety and depression levels among adult tobacco users and people who recently quit tobacco during COVID-19 lockdown in India.
The study was conducted across two Indian cities, Delhi and Chennai (July-August, 2020) among adult tobacco users ( = 801). Telephonic interviews were conducted using validated mental health tools (Patient Health Questionnaire-PHQ-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-GAD-7) to assess the anxiety and depression levels of the participants. Descriptive analysis and multiple logistic regression were used to study the prevalence and correlates of depression and anxiety.
We found that 20.6% of tobacco users had depression symptoms (3.9% moderate to severe); 20.7% had anxiety symptoms (3.8% moderate to severe). Risk factors associated with depression and anxiety included food, housing, and financial insecurity.
During COVID-19 lockdown, mental health of tobacco users (primarily women) was associated with food, housing and financial insecurity. The Indian Government rightly initiated several health, social and economic measures to shield the most vulnerable from COVID-19, including a ban on the sale of tobacco products. It is also necessary to prioritize universal health coverage, expanded social security net, tobacco cessation and mental health services to such vulnerable populations during pandemic situations.
2019年末，全球见证了一种极具传染性和致命性的疾病——新冠病毒病。印度是受影响最严重的国家之一。我们旨在评估印度新冠疫情封锁期间成年烟草使用者及近期戒烟者的焦虑和抑郁水平。
该研究于2020年7月至8月在印度的德里和钦奈这两个城市对成年烟草使用者（n = 801）开展。使用经过验证的心理健康工具（患者健康问卷 - PHQ - 9和广泛性焦虑障碍量表 - GAD - 7）进行电话访谈，以评估参与者的焦虑和抑郁水平。采用描述性分析和多重逻辑回归研究抑郁和焦虑的患病率及其相关因素。
我们发现，20.6%的烟草使用者有抑郁症状（3.9%为中度至重度）；20.7%有焦虑症状（3.8%为中度至重度）。与抑郁和焦虑相关的风险因素包括食品、住房和经济不安全。
在新冠疫情封锁期间，烟草使用者（主要是女性）的心理健康与食品、住房和经济不安全相关。印度政府正确地启动了多项卫生、社会和经济措施，以保护最脆弱人群免受新冠病毒病影响，包括禁止销售烟草制品。在疫情期间，还必须优先为这类脆弱人群提供全民健康覆盖、扩大社会保障网、戒烟和心理健康服务。
