Psychological impact of COVID-19 outbreak among Jimma University Medical Centre visitors in Southwestern Ethiopia : a cross-sectional study

Background COVID-19 has posed several medical, psychosocial and economic impacts among the majority of the society. The ambiguity of its transmission, the intense desire of self-protection, family, and friends, the unknown impact of catching the disease itself, unstoppable spread, the panic and outright misinformation lead to acute stress reaction syndrome. However, reliable data related to this contagion lack the prevalence of acute stress reaction syndrome and associated factors among Jimma University Medical Centre hospital visitors in Southwestern Ethiopia. Aims The main objective of the study was to assess the prevalence and factors associated with acute stress reaction syndrome during the COVID-19 outbreak among Jimma University Medical Centre Hospital visitors, Ethiopia. Methods An interviewer-administered cross-sectional study was conducted among 247 visitors of the Jimma University Medical Centre in Ethiopia. The study was conducted within 2 weeks of the first COVID-19 cases detected on 13 March 2020 in Ethiopia. Data on demographic and socioeconomic status were collected during the interview using structured questionnaires. The psychological impact was assessed using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, and symptoms of insomnia were measured using the Insomnia Severity Index. Social support was evaluated using Oslo three-item Social Support Scale. Logistic regression was employed to determine the associations between dependent and independent variables. Besides, psychosocial stress score was generated using principal component analysis. A paired permutation test was also performed to determine the variability of psychosocial stress between groups. Results The mean age of participants was 30.47 years, and 76.5% of the participants were male. Acute stress reaction syndrome was detected in 44.1% of hospital visitors. Of the participants, 38.5%, 17.4%, 8.5% and 35.6% had a minimal, mild, moderate and severe psychological impact, respectively. Factors positively associated with acute stress reaction syndrome were individuals who perceived that COVID-19 leads to stigma (adjusted OR (AOR): 3.24, 95% CI 1.11 to 9.45), mild insomnia (AOR: 14.74, 95% CI 6.14 to 35.40), moderate to severe insomnia (AOR: 35.1, 95% CI 10.76 to 114.66), low social support (AOR: 4.08, 95% CI 1.31 to 12.67) and governmental employees (AOR: 8.09, 95% CI 1.38 to 47.18). Conclusion The study revealed the existence of a high prevalence of acute stress reaction syndrome during the COVID-19 outbreak among different groups of the community. Therefore, our results will contribute to the global awareness of the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak

Psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia : an online cross-sectional study to identify the need for equal attention of intervention

Background The COVID-19 pandemic led individuals to suffer from different levels of mental health problems such as psychological distress, anxiety, depression, denial, panic, and fear. This study aimed at determining the prevalence of psychological distress and associated factors among the Ethiopian population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed through an online survey using different online platforms. The questionnaire was created through Google Form and the survey link was administered by e-mail, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Facebook. Educated Ethiopian population who have access to the internet were invited to participate through an online survey and addressed to 929 respondents. The study participants completed the survey anonymously without any personal identifier. The psychological distress was assessed using the Kessler 10-item tool to measure psychological distress. Data were analyzed using SPSS and logistic regression to examine mutually adjusted associations, expressed as adjusted odds ratios. A generalized additive model was also employed to identify additional predictors using R. Results The prevalence of high psychological distress among the study population was 236 (25.5%). Of all respondents, 421 (45.1%) had low psychological distress, 274 (29.4%) had moderate psychological distress, 164 (17.6%) had high psychological distress, and 72 (7.3%) had very high psychological distress. Psychological distress increased with being at young and middle-aged adults, getting information from social media, and not correctly practicing infection prevention and control measures to prevent COVID-19 infection. Respondents with high perceived severity had increased psychological distress. On the contrary, those with the highest score of perceived response efficacy had low distress. Conclusion Prevalence of psychological distress was substantial. The need for intervention of psychological distress inline with the prevention of COVID-19 is critically essential. The intervention target groups are those whose information sources are from social media, young and middle-aged adults, and those who do not correctly practice infection prevention and control measures against COVID-19 infection

Risk perceptions and attitudinal responses to COVID-19 pandemic : an online survey in Ethiopia

Background Effective risk communication is one of the critical strategies in the response to COVID-19. This study examined risk perceptions and attitudinal responses to COVID-19 among the educated section of the society in Ethiopia. Methods An internet-based survey was conducted from April 22 to May 04, 2020, in Ethiopia. A questionnaire addressing the perception of health threat-combination of perceived vulnerability (PV) and perceived seriousness (PS), and perceived efficacy-combinations of perceived response efficacy (PRE), perceived self-efficacy (PSE), and perceived collective efficacy (PCE). The data were analyzed using SPSS 21.0. Descriptive statistics were computed after the standardization of the scores. The scores for overall efficacy and threat were split by median value and response classifications were generated through threat by efficacy interactions. For statistical significance, 95% CI and p-value < 0.05 were used. Results A total of 929 respondents submitted their responses. Eight hundred and twenty-eight (89.1%) of the respondents were male and 753 (81.1%) were Christian. The perceived threat to COVID-19 was generally low (median = 58.3). The median score for overall efficacy, PRE, and PSE were 79.8, 87.5, and 80.0, respectively. However, the median value (66.7) for PCE was relatively low. Perceived threat significantly varied by age, education, occupation, and place of residence (p < 0.05). Perceived efficacy significantly differed by gender, residence, and use of some sources of information (p < 0.05). In terms of response to COVID-19, 290 (31.2%), 239 (25.7%), 175 (18.8%) and 225 (24.2%) of the respondents were in the responsive, pro-active, avoidant, and indifferent attitudinal categories, respectively. The avoidant and indifferent groups constituted a fear control response (mal-adaptive motivation towards COVID-19 protective behavior) whereas responsive and pro-active categories formed a danger control response (self-protective motivation). These responses varied significantly by residence, region, religion, and sources of information (p < 0.05). Conclusions Understanding people's perceived health threat and efficacy is a critical step toward creating risk communication campaigns. Hence, this study provided an insight that has the potential to inform the COVID-19 risk communication campaigns targeting the educated section of the society, by ensuring a balanced combination of threat appeals and efficacy messages for improved self-protective responses