Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health status among general masses: An in-deep analysis of the worst "hitters" of COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: A plethora of studies have reported the adverse psychiatric outcomes among the general masses during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, not much data is available in relation to the Indian population from this perspective. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of the CO...

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Main Authors: Priyadarshni Rangarajan (Author), Shaik F. Sultana (Author), Kurian Punnoose (Author), Hina Ahmed (Author), Gautam Singh (Author), V. Kiruthika (Author), Suresh J. Babu (Author), C. Swarnalatha (Author), Abhishek Singh Nayyar (Author)
Format: Book
Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications, 2024-07-01T00:00:00Z.
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Summary:BACKGROUND: A plethora of studies have reported the adverse psychiatric outcomes among the general masses during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, not much data is available in relation to the Indian population from this perspective. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health status among the general masses in the Indian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was planned in a cross-sectional study design between July 2020 and October 2021 in which a well-structured questionnaire, consisting of questions assessing the sociodemographic profile, while, also, specific questions related to the stress and anxiety-related variables, was used. The questionnaire was validated through intra-class correlation with a strong correlation of 0.84. The Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis to test the association between the studied variables, while P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: On comparison between the male and female participants using stress and anxiety-related variables, 43.81% of males as against 56.19% of the female participants reported that they felt horrified due to the pandemic with the results being statistically highly significant (P = 0.0043). Similarly, 45.18% of male and 54.82% of female participants expressed apprehension due to the fear of the pandemic with the results being statistically significant (P = 0.0217). CONCLUSION: The research findings of the present study indicated that men and women responded to stress differently, with women experiencing greater sadness and anxiety and were found to be at a relatively greater risk for developing anxiety and depression than men.
Item Description:2277-9531
2319-6440
10.4103/jehp.jehp_1389_23