Anxiety and depression among people living in quarantine centers during COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed method study from western Nepal
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Abstract
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, incoming travelers were quarantined at specific centers in Nepal and major checkpoints in Nepal-India border. Nepal adopted a generic public health approaches to control and quarantine returnee migrants, with little attention towards the quality of quarantine facilities and its aftermath, such as the poor mental health of the returnee migrants. The main objective of this study was to explore the status of anxiety and depression, and factors affecting them among returnee migrants living in institutional quarantine centers of western Nepal.
Methods
A mixed method approach in this study included a quantitative survey and in-depth interviews (IDIs) among respondents in quarantine centers of Karnali province between 21 st April and 15 th May 2020. Survey questionnaire utilized Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) tools, which were administered among 441 quarantined returnee migrants. IDIs were conducted among 12 participants which included a mix of six quarantined migrants and healthcare workers each from the quarantine centres. Descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted on quantitative data; and thematic analysis was utilized for qualitative data.
Results
Mild depression (9.1%; 40/441) and anxiety (16.1%; 71/441) was common among respondents followed by moderate depression and anxiety {depression (3.4%; 15/441), anxiety (4.1%; 18/441)} and severe depression and anxiety {depression (1.1%; 5/441), anxiety (0.7%; 3/441)}. Anxiety and depression were independent of their socio-demographic characteristics. Perceived fear of contracting COVID-19, severity and death were prominent among the respondents. Respondents experienced stigma and discrimination in addition to being at the risk of disease and possible loss of employment and financial responsibilities. In addition, poor (quality and access to) health services, and poor living condition at the quarantine centres adversely affected respondents’ mental health.
Conclusion
Depression and anxiety were high among quarantined population and warrants more research. Institutional quarantine centers of Karnali province of Nepal were in poor conditions which adversely impacted mental health of the respondents. Poor resource allocation for health, hygiene and living conditions can be counterproductive to the population quarantined.
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SciScore for 10.1101/2020.11.05.20224436: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement Consent: A verbal informed consent was obtained from each participant before enrollment into the study. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable Both UBB and KT are male public health experts in Nepal with over 10 years of experience in qualitative social science research. Table 2: Resources
Software and Algorithms Sentences Resources Data analysis: The quantitative data were entered in MS Excel 2019 and then transferred into SPSS Version 23 for analysis. MS Excelsuggested: NoneSPSSsuggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. …
SciScore for 10.1101/2020.11.05.20224436: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement Consent: A verbal informed consent was obtained from each participant before enrollment into the study. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable Both UBB and KT are male public health experts in Nepal with over 10 years of experience in qualitative social science research. Table 2: Resources
Software and Algorithms Sentences Resources Data analysis: The quantitative data were entered in MS Excel 2019 and then transferred into SPSS Version 23 for analysis. MS Excelsuggested: NoneSPSSsuggested: (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: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:Strengths and limitations: This is to our knowledge the first study conducted in Nepal to explore anxiety and depression among people who had to stay in the quarantine centres during COVID-19 pandemic. One of the main strengths of this study is that it uses a mixed method design in an adequate sample. Nonetheless, the study may have incurred recall and social desirability bias. In addition, anxiety and depression in this study may have accumulated from the contribution of various previous circumstances apart from quarantine experience. Other quarantine centres in Nepal may have different characteristics in terms of services and ambience possibly impacting the level of mental wellbeing. However, poor services, and crowded living conditions have been reported through from across Nepal through media. Future research can explore into the nationwide situation of quarantine centres and their impacts on the mental wellbeing population quarantined in these centers.
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.
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