Depressive and anxiety symptoms, quality of sleep, and coping during the 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic in general population in Kashmir

• Main Authors: Bilal Ahmad Bhat, Rouf Ahmad Mir, Arshad Hussain, Iqra Rasheed Shah
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SpringerOpen 2020-11-01
• Series: Middle East Current Psychiatry
• Subjects: Coronavirus disease; Depressive symptoms; Anxiety symptoms; Quality of sleep; Coping
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s43045-020-00069-2

Abstract Background With uncertainty surrounding the 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic, there is no knowledge of the psychological impact of this pandemic on the general public from Kashmir. We aimed to understand the psychological impact in the form of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, quality of sleep, and coping during this pandemic. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted using social networking sites. The questionnaire meant for this study was sent as a link to a respondent. Initial part of questionnaire collected the socio-demographic details of the respondents. Depressive and anxiety symptoms were assessed using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess the quality of sleep. There was also an open-ended question to look for coping skills used. Results The majority of our respondents were below 45 years (around 95%) with 54.9% from 18 to 30 years age group. 72.3% were males and 27.7% were females. 58.7% were from rural background. 55.7% were employed, and 32.2% were students. In our respondents, 55% had anxiety symptoms, 55% had depressive symptoms, around 53% had poor quality of sleep, and around 30% of used maladaptive coping skills. Significant depressive symptoms were there in the younger age group, 18–30 years (p = 0.03). Significant depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms were present in females (p = 0.01 and 0.006, respectively). In urban population, significant anxiety symptoms (p = 0.03) were present. The mean score for anxiety symptoms and depressive symptoms was 8.05 ± 4.53 and 8.07 ± 4.56, respectively. Mean global PSQI score was 6.90 ± 3.82 and was positively correlated with score on depressive symptom scale (p = 0.001) as well as score on anxiety symptom scale (p = 0.001). Conclusion Younger people, females, those living in urban conditions, and those using maladaptive coping skills are likely to have anxiety symptoms and depressive symptoms as well as poor quality of sleep.