Mental health status of the general population, healthcare professionals, and university students during 2019 coronavirus disease outbreak in Jordan: A cross‐sectional study

  1. Abdallah Y. Naser
  2. Eman Zmaily Dahmash
  3. Rabaa Al‐Rousan
  4. Hassan Alwafi
  5. Hamzeh Mohammad Alrawashdeh
  6. Imene Ghoul
  7. Anwer Abidine
  8. Mohammed A. Bokhary
  9. Hadeel T. AL‐Hadithi
  10. Dalia Ali
  11. Rasha Abuthawabeh
  12. Ghada Mohammad Abdelwahab
  13. Yosra J. Alhartani
  14. Haneen Al Muhaisen
  15. Ayah Dagash
  16. Hamad S. Alyami

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Abstract

Background

The emergence of COVID‐19 global pandemic coupled with high transmission rate and mortality has created an unprecedented state of emergency worldwide. This global situation may have a negative impact on the psychological well‐being of individuals which in turn impacts individuals' performance. This study aims to explore the prevalence of depression and anxiety among the GP, HCPs, and USs during COVID‐19 outbreak, and to identify key population(s) who might need psychological intervention.

Methods

A cross‐sectional study using an online survey was conducted in Jordan between 22 and 28 March 2020 to explore the mental health status (depression and anxiety) of the general population, healthcare professionals, and university students during the COVID‐19 outbreak. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ‐9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder‐7 (GAD‐7) were used to assess depression and anxiety among the study participants. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors of depression and anxiety.

Results

The prevalence of depression and anxiety among the entire study participants was 23.8% and 13.1%, respectively. Anxiety was most prevalent across university students 21.5%, followed by healthcare professionals 11.3%, and general population 8.8%. Females among healthcare professionals and university students, divorced healthcare professionals, pulmonologists, and university students with history of chronic disease were at higher risk of developing depression. Females, divorced participants among the general population, and university students with history of chronic disease and those with high income (≥1,500 JD) were at higher risk of developing anxiety.

Conclusions

During outbreaks, individuals are put under extreme stressful condition resulting in higher risk of developing anxiety and depression particularly for students and healthcare professionals. Policymakers and mental healthcare providers are advised to provide further mental support to these vulnerable groups during this pandemic.

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  1. Version published to 10.1002/brb3.1730
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.04.09.20056374: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    The statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS (version 25).
    SPSS
    suggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

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  3. Version published to 10.1101/2020.04.09.20056374v1 on medRxiv