Burden and factors associated with Generalized Anxiety Disorder symptoms among the Pakistani population during the Corona-virus disease 2019

Abstract

\n Background\n\nPsychological impact of the COVID 19 pandemic has been expected and widely predicted, but its associated factors are not measured predominantly in low- and middle-income countries. This study aims to determine the burden and factors associated with generalized-anxiety-disorder in the Pakistani population amidst the COVID 19 pandemic\nMethods\n\nWe conducted a web-based cross-sectional survey on 1679 Pakistani residents who had access to the study questionnaire broadcasted via the Google form. Generalized-anxiety-disorder was screened through a validated tool of the Generalized-Anxiety-Disorder 7 scale. Multiple Ordinal Regression was used to identify the factors associated generalized anxiety disorder and the results were reported as adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals.\nResults\n\nMost of the participants (70.8%; n\u2009=\u20091189) were screened positive for generalized-anxiety-disorder, out of which moderate and severe symptoms were seen in 22% (n\u2009=\u2009365) and 18% (n\u2009=\u2009301) of them, respectively. The mean score for generalized-anxiety was 8.57(SD\u2009=\u2009±\u20095.88). A significant interaction was seen between gender and perceived stress, indicating that females with high perceived stress had 30 times greater odds of generalized-anxiety as compared to females with low perceived stress (95% CI: 20.02, 44.46). Additionally, during the complete down, the odds of generalized-anxiety among respondents who frequently watched news were 1.72(95% CI: 1.06, 2.77) times compared to participants who rarely watched the news. Furthermore, participant’s current psychiatric illness, anxiousness about uncertainty, fear of getting infected from COVID, fear of loved one getting infected from COVID 19, worrying when the first case of COVID 19 was reported, indulgence in recreational activities, and current health status were found to be significantly associated with generalized-anxiety.\nConclusion\n\nStudy findings indicate an alarming increase in generalized anxiety adversely affecting the psychological well-being of respondents. Immediate interventions for offering psychological support need to be implemented to curtail the rapidly increasing morbidity due to anxiety related to the pandemic.