Perceived Stress and its Contributing Factors among a Group of Egyptian Women during COVID-19 Lock-down

Abstract

Background: The pandemic of corona virus disease [COVID]-19 had its great impacts on global health due to the increasing both morbidity and mortality. In addition, being quarantined is linked with high stress levels, insomnia, irritability and trauma-related disorders particularly in vulnerable populations. Therefore, there is a need to assess accurately and timely the magnitude of psychological health outcomes in those having exposure to COVID-19 pandemic. The Aim: The current work aimed to assess the perceived stress level among a group of Egyptian women and to explore the potential contributing factors for that during the COVID-19 lockdown. Methods: A cross-sectional survey targeted educated women from different Egyptian governorates, and of different socioeconomic standards. The total sample was 286 women who were recruited by non-probability snowball sampling and through a semi-structured, online questionnaire comprising socio-demographic data, the validated Arabic version of Cohen Perceived Stress Scale 10 [PSS]. Possible contributing factors of the perceived stress due to COVID-19 were also inquired. Results: total females who responded to the questionnaire were 286 with mean age of 46.5± 11.0 years. During the quarantine period, the total score of the perceived stress scale was 17.1±5.37, and both high and moderate levels of stress were recorded among 73.4% of the studied sample. Stress level was significantly influenced by disruptions of social communication with friends and families, "getting basic needs for health and safety are unmet then ", conflicts between mother and her children represented as a load", being younger women [below 50 years], and "feel stressed due to inability for social gatherings". Conclusion: COVID -19 pandemic has its obvious psychological impact on females, and many factors were contributing to such situation, which put the spotlight on the importance of taking these impacts into consideration when designing policies to slow the spread of the pandemic.

Keywords

• covid-19
• perceived stress
• stress level
• contributing factors