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Research article
Psychological Distress in Nepalese Residents during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Community Level Survey
Dhan Bahadur Shrestha
Mangalbare Hospital
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8121-083X
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
View the published version at BMC Psychiatry.
Background
COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented health and economic impact. Psychological stress, anxiety and depression are affecting not only COVID-19 patients but also health professionals, and general population. Fear of contracting COVID-19, forced restrictive social measures, and economic hardship are causing mental trauma. Nepal is a developing country from South Asia where the COVID-19 pandemic is still evolving. This online survey has been carried out to understand impact of COVID- 19 on mental health of Nepalese community dwellers.
Methods
The COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index (CPDI) questionnaire adapted from the Shanghai Mental Health Centre was used for online data collection from 11 April-17 May 2020. Collected data were extracted to Microsoft excel-13 and imported and analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version-22. An initial univariate analysis was conducted for all variables to assess the distribution. Logistic regression analyses were done to estimate the odds ratios of relevant predicting variables.
Results
A total of 410 participants completed the self-rated questionnaires. Mean age of study participants was 34.8 ±11.7 years with male preponderance. 88.5% of the respondents were not in distress (score less than 28) while, 11% had mild to moderate distress and 0.5% had severe distress. The prevalence of distress is higher among age group >45 years, female gender, and post-secondary education group. Health professional were more likely to get distressed. Respondents with post-secondary education had higher odds (OR= 3.32; p=0.020) of developing distress as compared to respondents with secondary education or lower.
Conclusion
There is lower rate of psychological distress in city dwellers and people with low education. Adequate intervention and evaluation into mental health awareness, and psychosocial support focused primarily on health care workers, female and elderly individuals is necessary.
Keywords
COVID-19, Mental Health, Nepal, Pandemics Psychological distress
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This preprint is under consideration at BMC Psychiatry. A preprint is a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal. Research Square does not conduct peer review prior to posting preprints. The posting of a preprint on this server should not be interpreted as an endorsement of its validity or suitability for dissemination as established information or for guiding clinical practice.
Learn more about In Review
Research article
Psychological Distress in Nepalese Residents during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Community Level Survey
Dhan Bahadur Shrestha
Mangalbare Hospital
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8121-083X
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
Peer Review Timeline
CURRENT STATUS: Published
Version 2
Posted 23 Sep, 2020
Published
On 06 Oct, 2020
No community comments so far
Editorial decision: Accept
On 29 Sep, 2020
Editor assigned
On 21 Sep, 2020
Submission checks complete
On 20 Sep, 2020
Editor invited
On 20 Sep, 2020
Version (no preprint)
Posted 13 Aug, 2020
Editorial decision: Minor revision
On 18 Sep, 2020
Review #2 received
Received 17 Sep, 2020
Reviewer #2 agreed
On 09 Sep, 2020
Editor assigned
On 07 Sep, 2020
Reviewers invited
Invitations sent on 07 Sep, 2020
Reviewer #1 agreed
On 07 Sep, 2020
Review #1 received
Received 07 Sep, 2020
Submission checks complete
On 06 Sep, 2020
Editor invited
On 06 Sep, 2020
This version was not preprinted
No comments provided
Review #1 received
Received 20 Aug, 2020
Reviewer #2 agreed
On 14 Aug, 2020
Reviewer #1 agreed
On 13 Aug, 2020
Editor assigned
On 12 Aug, 2020
Reviewers invited
Invitations sent on 12 Aug, 2020
Submission checks complete
On 11 Aug, 2020
Editor invited
On 11 Aug, 2020
Version (no preprint)
Posted 13 Jul, 2020
This version was not preprinted
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
Subject Areas
Psychiatry
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
View the published version at BMC Psychiatry.
Background
COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented health and economic impact. Psychological stress, anxiety and depression are affecting not only COVID-19 patients but also health professionals, and general population. Fear of contracting COVID-19, forced restrictive social measures, and economic hardship are causing mental trauma. Nepal is a developing country from South Asia where the COVID-19 pandemic is still evolving. This online survey has been carried out to understand impact of COVID- 19 on mental health of Nepalese community dwellers.
Methods
The COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index (CPDI) questionnaire adapted from the Shanghai Mental Health Centre was used for online data collection from 11 April-17 May 2020. Collected data were extracted to Microsoft excel-13 and imported and analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version-22. An initial univariate analysis was conducted for all variables to assess the distribution. Logistic regression analyses were done to estimate the odds ratios of relevant predicting variables.
Results
A total of 410 participants completed the self-rated questionnaires. Mean age of study participants was 34.8 ±11.7 years with male preponderance. 88.5% of the respondents were not in distress (score less than 28) while, 11% had mild to moderate distress and 0.5% had severe distress. The prevalence of distress is higher among age group >45 years, female gender, and post-secondary education group. Health professional were more likely to get distressed. Respondents with post-secondary education had higher odds (OR= 3.32; p=0.020) of developing distress as compared to respondents with secondary education or lower.
Conclusion
There is lower rate of psychological distress in city dwellers and people with low education. Adequate intervention and evaluation into mental health awareness, and psychosocial support focused primarily on health care workers, female and elderly individuals is necessary.
Figure 1