Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.24869/psyd.2020.266

FEAR AND DEPRESSION AMONG RESIDENTS OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA DURING COVID-19 OUTBREAK - INTERNET SURVEY

Armin Šljivo ; Medical student, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina
Majda Kačamaković ; Medical student, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina
Iman Quraishi ; Medical student, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina
Alma Džubur Kulenović orcid.org/0000-0002-1883-7111 ; Department of Psychiatry, Clinical Center of University of Sarajevo, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina

Abstract

Background: Occurrence of symptoms of fear and depression among general population during the outbreak of COVID-19 seems to present an emerging problem worldwide. The aim of this study was to examine levels of fear and depressive symptoms in association with COVID-19 outbreak and to assess other contributing factors in the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Subjects and methods: Link to an anonymous questionnaire, mainly based on The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (Ahorsu et al. 2020) and two item and nine-item Patient Health Questionnaires (PHQs) (Maurer et al. 2018) (background information, fear assessment and information regarding depression) was distributed online to general population of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Results: Out of 1201 respondents, 217 (18.0%) reported experiencing fear and 341 (28.4%) reported having symptoms of depression during COVID-19 outbreak. The mean age of the subjects was 30.57±11.26. Being older (OR=1.044; 95% CI 1.031-1.057; p<0.001) and having moderate to severe depressive symptoms (OR=1.093; 95% CI 1.067 1.120; p<0.001) were independent significant predictors for developing fear; living in rural environment (OR=0.551; 95% Cl 0.325-0.935; p=0.0027) significantly decreased the risk of developing fear; being female (OR=1.750; 95% CI 1.242-2.466; p=0.001), unemployed (OR=1.557; 95% CI 1.040-2.330; p=0.032) or student (OR=1.943; 95% CI 1.450-2.604; p<0.001) were independent significant predictors for developing moderate to severe depressive symptoms in association with COVID-19. Mann Whitney U-test showed that being older was statistically associated with fear (p<0.001) and being younger was statistically associated with depressive symptoms (p<0.001). Conclusions: In conclusion, based on our findings, fear and depressive symptoms in general population of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the outbreak of COVID-19 were present in 18.06% (fear) and 28.39% (depression) of subjects and it was statistically associated with age, gender, occupation, living environment and may present a secondary uprising problem connected to outbreak of COVID-19

Keywords

fear; depressive symptoms; pandemics; COVID-19

Hrčak ID:

242371

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/242371

Publication date:

13.8.2020.

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