The Relationship between COVID-19 Fear and Anxiety with the Quality of Life of Students in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran

2 Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Islamic Azad University of Sanandaj, Sanandaj, Iran

3 Lab Assistant Researcher, Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

4 Student research committee, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran

5 Department of Mathematics, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran

6 Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran

10.22034/ncm.2022.340234.1044

Abstract

Background: The outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic led to mental disorders and a negative impact on people's quality of life. Due to the closure of universities and the holding of classes virtually, students experienced a great deal of fear and anxiety.
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between fear and anxiety and students' quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Method: In this descriptive correlational study, 304 students in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq in February and March 2021 were selected by convenience sampling method and entered into the study. Data were collected using sociodemographic form, fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19), Corona disease anxiety scale (CDAS), and COVID-19–impact on quality of life (COV19-QOL) scale.
Results: The mean age of the participants was 20.61±3.53 years. Students had high levels of fear and moderate anxiety toward COVID-19, and this pandemic had a moderate effect on their quality of life. The mean score of all these variables in girls was significantly higher than in boys. There was a relationship between quality of life and fear and anxiety, so with increasing 1 point in the quality of life, the score of fear and anxiety changed by 0.27 and 0.35 points, respectively.
Conclusion: There is a relationship between fear and anxiety and students' quality of life. Providing training classes on anxiety and fear control can improve their quality of life.

Keywords

References

  1. Ma Y-F, Li W, Deng H-B, Wang L, Wang Y, Wang P-H, et al. Prevalence of depression and its association with quality of life in clinically stable patients with COVID-19. Journal of affective disorders. 2020;275:145-8. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2020.06.033 PMid:32658818 PMCid:PMC7329672
  2. Erbil KR, Iraq (GOV.KRD). Kurdistan Regional Government Committee on Coronavirus Issues 2020 [Available from: https://gov.krd/coronavirus-en/situation-update/.
  3. Cao W, Fang Z, Hou G, Han M, Xu X, Dong J, et al. The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatry research. 2020:112934. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112934 PMid:32229390 PMCid:PMC7102633
  4. Rehman U, Shahnawaz MG, Khan NH, Kharshiing KD, Khursheed M, Gupta K, et al. Depression, anxiety and stress among Indians in times of Covid-19 lockdown. Community mental health journal. 2020:1-7.doi:10.1007/s10597-020-00664-x PMid:32577997 PMCid:PMC7309680
  5. Wang Y, Di Y, Ye J, Wei W. Study on the public psychological states and its related factors during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in some regions of China. Psychology, Health & Medicine. 2020:1-10. doi:10.1080/13548506.2020.1746817 PMid:32223317
  6. Kwasi Ahorsu D, Ying Lin C, Saffari M, Griffiths D, Pakpour A. The Fear of COVID-19 Scale: Development and Initial Validation. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. 2020. doi:10.1037/t78404-000
  7. Islam SD-U, Bodrud-Doza M, Khan RM, Haque MA, Mamun MA. Exploring COVID-19 stress and its factors in Bangladesh: a perception-based study. Heliyon. 2020;6(7):e04399. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04399 PMid:32685726 PMCid:PMC7350787
  8. Syed NK, Griffiths MD. Nationwide suicides owing to alcohol withdrawal symptoms during COVID-19 pandemic: a review of cases from media reports. Journal of psychiatric research. 2020. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.08.021 PMid:32866677 PMCid:PMC7438040
  9. Cheng SK, Wong C, Tsang J, Wong K. Psychological distress and negative appraisals in survivors of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Psychological Medicine. 2004; 34(7):1187. doi:10.1017/S0033291704002272 PMid:15697045
  10. Hamer M, Kivimaki M, Stamatakis E, Batty GD. Psychological distress and infectious disease mortality in the general population. Brain, behavior, and immunity. 2019;76:280-3. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2018.12.011 PMid:30579940
  11. Wu P, Fang Y, Guan Z, Fan B, Kong J, Yao Z, et al. The psychological impact of the SARS epidemic on hospital employees in China: exposure, risk perception, and altruistic acceptance of risk. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 2009;54(5):302-11. doi:10.1177/070674370905400504 PMid:19497162 PMCid:PMC3780353
  12. Dymecka J, Gerymski R, Machnik-Czerwik A. How does stress affect our life satisfaction during COVID-19 pandemic? Moderated mediation analysis of sense of coherence and fear of coronavirus. 2020. doi:10.31234/osf.io/3zjrx PMid:31578088
  13. Deacon B, Maack DJ. The effects of safety behaviors on the fear of contamination: An experimental investigation. Behaviour Research and Therapy. 2008;46(4):537-47. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2008.01.010 PMid:18313031
  14. Dong L, Hu S, Gao J. Discovering drugs to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Drug discoveries & therapeutics. 2020;14(1):58-60. doi:10.5582/ddt.2020.01012PMid:32147628
  15. Bai Y, Yao L, Wei T, Tian F, Jin D-Y, Chen L, et al. Presumed asymptomatic carrier transmission of COVID-19. Jama. 2020;323(14):1406-7. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.2565 PMid:32083643 PMCid:PMC7042844
  16. Abdullah MFILB, Murad NS, Teoh SH, Mohamad MA. Quality of Life of University Students During The COVID-19 Pandemic: Age, History of Medical Illness, Religious Coping, COVID-19 Related Stressors, Psychological Factors and Social Support Were Predictive of Quality of Life. 2020. doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-104496/v1
  17. Nejati V, Shirinbayan P, Akbari Kamrani A, Foroughan M, Taheri P, Sheikhvatan M. Quality of life in elderly people in Kashan, Iran. Middle East Journal of Age and Ageing. 2008; 5 (2):21-5.
  18. Rogowska AM, Kuśnierz C, Bokszczanin A. Examining anxiety, life satisfaction, general health, stress and coping styles during COVID-19 pandemic in Polish sample of university students. Psychology Research and Behavior Management. 2020;13:797. doi:10.2147/PRBM.S266511 PMid:33061695 PMCid:PMC7532061
  19. Ahorsu DK, Lin C-Y, Imani V, Saffari M, Griffiths MD, Pakpour AH. The fear of COVID-19 scale: development and initial validation. International journal of mental health and addiction. 2020. doi:10.1037/t78404-000
  20. Alipour A, Ghadami A, Alipour Z, Abdollahzadeh H. Preliminary validation of the Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS) in the Iranian sample. 2020;8(32):163-75.
  21. Repišti S, Jovanović N, Kuzman MR, Medved S, Jerotić S, Ribić E, et al. How to measure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on quality of life: COV19-QoL-the development, reliability and validity of a new scale. 2020;1(ahead-of-print). doi:10.2478/gp-2020-0016
  22. Parisod H, Holopainen A, Kielo‐Viljamaa E, Puukka P, Beeckman D, Haavisto E. Attitudes of nursing staff towards pressure ulcer prevention in primary and specialised health care: A correlational cross‐sectional study. International Wound Journal. 2021:1-12. doi:10.1111/iwj.13641 PMid:34121328 PMCid:PMC8762573
  23. Alyami M, de Albuquerque JV, Krägeloh CU, Alyami H, Henning MA. Effects of fear of COVID-19 on mental well-being and quality of life among Saudi adults: a path analysis. Saudi Journal of Medicine Medical Sciences. 2021;9(1):24. doi:10.4103/sjmms.sjmms_630_20 PMid:33519340 PMCid:PMC7839565
  24. Broche-Pérez Y, Fernández-Fleites Z, Jiménez-Puig E, Fernández-Castillo E, Rodríguez-Martin BC. Gender and fear of COVID-19 in a Cuban population sample. International Journal of Mental Health Addiction. 2020:1-9. doi:10.1007/s11469-020-00377-y
  25. Limcaoco RSG, Mateos EM, Fernandez JM, Roncero C. Anxiety, worry and perceived stress in the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, March 2020. Preliminary results. MedRxiv. 2020.
  26. Qiu J, Shen B, Zhao M, Wang Z, Xie B, Xu Y. A nationwide survey of psychological distress among Chinese people in the COVID-19 epidemic: implications and policy recommendations. General psychiatry. 2020;33(2). doi:10.1136/gpsych-2020-100213 PMid:32215365 PMCid:PMC7061893
  27. Sakib N, Bhuiyan AI, Hossain S, Al Mamun F, Hosen I, Abdullah AH, et al. Psychometric validation of the Bangla Fear of COVID-19 Scale: Confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis. International Journal of Mental Health Addiction. 2020:1-12. doi:10.1007/s11469-020-00289-x
  28. Bitan DT, Grossman-Giron A, Bloch Y, Mayer Y, Shiffman N, Mendlovic S. Fear of COVID-19 scale: Psychometric characteristics, reliability and validity in the Israeli population. Psychiatry Research. 2020;289:113100. doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113100 PMCid:PMC7227556
  29. Bakioğlu F, Korkmaz O, Ercan H. Fear of COVID-19 and positivity: mediating role of intolerance of uncertainty, depression, anxiety, and stress. International journal of mental health addiction. 2020:1-14. doi:10.1007/s11469-020-00331-y PMid:32837421 PMCid:PMC7255700
  30. AlAteeq DA, Aljhani S, AlEesa D. Perceived stress among students in virtual classrooms during the COVID-19 outbreak in KSA. Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences. 2020;15(5):398-403. doi:10.1016/j.jtumed.2020.07.004 PMid:32837508 PMCid:PMC7395822
  31. Demirbas N, Kutlu RJIJoMH, Addiction. Effects of COVID-19 Fear on Society's Quality of Life. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2021;15:1-10. doi:10.1007/s11469-021-00550-x PMid:34539282 PMCid:PMC8443113
  32. Overfield T. Biologic variation in health and illness: race, age, and sex differences: CRC Press; 2017. doi:10.1201/9781315150307 PMid:29340321 PMCid:PMC5762951
Novelty in Clinical Medicine
Volume 1, Issue 4 - Serial Number 4
August 2022
Pages 173-177

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 01 May 2022
  • Revise Date: 09 May 2022
  • Accept Date: 01 June 2022

Share

How to cite

Statistics