Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare (Feb 2022)
Assessing the Psychological Impact of the Pandemic COVID -19 in Uninfected High-Risk Population
Abstract
Sami Mustafa Jafar Ahmed,1 Bashir Ali Awadelgeed,2 Elhadi Miskeen3,4 1Department of Family and Community Medicine,Al Kharj Military Industries Corporation Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Bakht Er-Ruda University, Ed Dueim, Sudan; 3Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, College of Medicine, University of Bisha, Bisha, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Gezira, Wad Medani, SudanCorrespondence: Sami Mustafa Jafar Ahmed, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Al Kharj Military Industries Corporation Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tel +966559131609, Email [email protected]: To assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psyche of uninfected people with chronic diseases in the Elduim community, White Nile State, Sudan, during the COVID -19 pandemic.Methods: We used a generalized anxiety disorder scale (GAD -7) and a patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) for psychological assessment. The study included two hundred thirty-four participants; all participants with a chronic disease but not infected with COVID -19 were between 24 and 65 years of age. Residents of the study area were randomly selected. Descriptive statistics and a t-test were used for associations with a p-value of 0.05 or less.Results: This study found that anxiety rated by GAD 7 was either mild (18, 7.7%), moderate (98, 41.9%), or severe (41, 17.5%) among participants. PHQ 9-rated depression showed 22 (9.4%) mild depression, most of them in participants aged 36– 44 years. Participants with kidney disease showed major depression 11 (42.31%). Factors that significantly affected anxiety scores were age 24– 35 years (P =0.002), university graduates (P < 0.000), married (P < 0.000), those with diabetes and hypertension (P =0.041), and urban residents (P < 0.023). Those who had secondary education were married and smoked were significantly more likely to have major depression than those with another educational status (p < 0.05).Conclusion: COVID 19 pandemic had a significant impact on the psyche of uninfected people with chronic diseases in Sudan, and significant associated factors were identified. Unique interventions are strongly recommended to reduce the psychological impact of the COVID 19 pandemic.Keywords: COVID-19, psychological impact, chronic disease, anxiety, depression
