Open AccessThe Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdown on Anxiety in the Elderly population: a cross sectional study
Author(s) -
Abhinav Garg,
Vikas Gaur,
Deepak Salvi,
Abhinav Garg
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
archives of psychiatry research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.117
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 2671-2008
pISSN - 2671-1079
DOI - 10.20471/dec.2021.57.02.02
Subject(s) - anxiety , pandemic , medicine , population , residence , logistic regression , generalized anxiety disorder , cross sectional study , epidemiology , demography , psychiatry , covid-19 , gerontology , disease , environmental health , pathology , sociology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Background: The coronavirus pandemic is an epidemiological and psychological crisis. The elderly population is considered to be high risk for potential complications arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, and this fact can also potentially lead to anxiety symptoms amongst the elderly. Therefore, a study was conducted to assess the anxiety symptoms in elderly living in few major cities of Rajasthan state in India. Methods: The study was conducted from April 2020 to May 2020 using an online questionnaire which measured the levels of anxiety amongst the elderly population (age ≥ 65 years) living in the community via the GAD-7 (General Anxiety Disorder-7) scale. Responses were received from 162 participants. Data were analyzed using the Chi-square test and logistic regression. The level of statistical significance was kept at p value < 0.05. Results: Around 69.14% of the participants belonged to the age group of 65 -74 years; 61.72% of whom were male. Moreover, up to 82.72% of the participants were suffering from one or more chronic medical illnesses. Based on the GAD-7 scores, 30.25%, 12.35%, and 6.17% of the respondents were suffering from mild, moderate, and severe forms of anxiety, respectively. After applying a ≥ 5 score as a cut off score for the GAD-7 scale, 48.77% of the elderly participants were experiencing anxiety symptoms indicating further assessment. In those respondents with anxiety symptoms, significant association was observed with age (p = 0.00), sex (p = 0.04), and the zone of residence (p = 0.00). On the other hand, no significant association was observed with the presence of chronic medical illness such as Diabetes, Hypertension, COPD, etc. with anxiety symptoms (p = 0.77). Conclusion: This study has revealed a high prevalence of anxiety symptoms among the elderly population during the COVID-19 pandemic lock down. We recommend that a pre-planned strategy should be prepared for early identification of vulnerable elderly in the community who are at a greater risk of suffering from anxiety disorder under this stressful period.