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Coronavirus lockdown and its impact on mental health of general population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

M. Dhemaid ,
W. Abbes ,
C. Bagane ,
A. Jradi ,
S. Hafi  and
L. Ghanmi
M. Dhemaid*
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, regional hospital of Gabes, Gabes, Tunisia
W. Abbes
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, regional hospital of Gabes, Gabes, Tunisia
C. Bagane
Affiliation:
Prehospital Emergency Care Service, regional hospital of Gabes, Gabes, Tunisia
A. Jradi
Affiliation:
Prehospital Emergency Care Service, regional hospital of Gabes, Gabes, Tunisia
S. Hafi
Affiliation:
Prehospital Emergency Care Service, regional hospital of Gabes, Gabes, Tunisia
L. Ghanmi
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, regional hospital of Gabes, Gabes, Tunisia
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

On March, Tunisian government imposed lockdown measures on cities to contain the COVID19 outbreak. Media coverage, social distancing, quarantine and isolation led to a global atmosphere of anxiety and depression.

Objectives

To assess the level of anxiety and depression among citizens of southern Tunisia and theirs associated factors.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical online-based survey, from April 19, 2020, to May 5, 2020 on 331 citizens living in south of Tunisia. During this period, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 exceeded 900 in Tunisia. We used a self-administered anonymous questionnaire containing citizen’s sociodemographic and clinical data. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) validated in the Tunisian dialectal version was used to assess anxiety and depression. Data were analysed using SPSS version 21.

Results

The 331 Participants were males (35%), singles (43,2%),aged between 20 and 40 years old(71%). From them, 37.5 % were suffering from anxiety and 42% of them from depression. Anxiety was correlated to the personal history of anxiety (p<10-3), the depression (p<10-3), the fear of contamination (p<10-3), the increased consumption of coffee and tea (p=0.005) and sleep disorders (p<10-3). Meanwhile, depression was associated to a past psychiatric history (p=0.001), a personal experience of psychological violence (p=0.011), increased cannabis use (p=0.011) and a broken sleep (p=0.007).

Conclusions

Our study identified a high prevalence of adverse psychological symptoms experienced by Tunisian citizens during this first wave of virus spread. Mitigating coronavirus effect on mental health is becoming an international public health priority.

Keywords

General populationCOVID-19AnxietyDepression
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S266
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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