Early indicators and risk factors associated with mental health problems during COVID-19 quarantine: Is there a relationship with the number of confirmed cases and deaths?

Abstract

Background: On March 20 2020, the Argentine Ministry of Health enforced a mandatory quarantine throughout the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Aims: The object of this study is to determine the initial impact on mental health of Argentine population, by measuring the prevalence of anxiety, depression, insomnia, and self-perceived stress and by determining the associated risk factors, and to analyze that impact in relation to the number of confirmed cases and deaths. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted through a digital questionnaire, which was completed by 1,985 respondents between March 29 and April 12. The prevalence of anxiety, depression, stress and insomnia was measured with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale (GAD-7), the 9-Item Patients Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9); the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), respectively. Results: The 62.4% of the surveyed population reported signs of psychological distress. It was found that being a woman, being 18 to 27 years old, living with family members or a partner, smoking, and having a poor sleep quality were the significant risk factors. Conclusion: Despite the low number of COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths at that time, a strong impact on mental health indicators was revealed. The authors of this study recommend the monitoring of the population at risk over time and early interventions in order to avoid long-lasting mental health problems.

Psychologic distress and sleep quality among adults in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Similar studies have been reported in studies conducted in the process of COVID-19. A study conducted in an Argentine population found that 62.4% of the participants showed symptoms of psychological distress ( Badellino et al, 2020 ). Xiong et al (2020) determined the rate of psychological distress in the general population to be from 34.43% to 38%.…”

“…Islam et al ( Islam et al, 2020 ) determined being married to be a risk factor for general anxiety and panic levels. Badellino et al ( Badellino et al, 2020 ) identified living with family/partner to be a risk factor for psychological distress. In their study on anesthesia specialists in the COVID-19 pandemic period, Jain et al ( Jain et al, 2020 ) found being married to be a risk factor for anxiety.…”

Alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean

“…Online surveys were conducted in Latin American countries like Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico (14)(15)(16). These surveys covered mental health symptoms but only included one or just a few questions on alcohol consumption.…”

Meta-analytical evidence on mental disorder symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America

“…A total of 36 unique samples from 33 studies (Badellino et al, 2020;Campos et al, 2020;Cénat et al, 2021;Chen et al, 2020a;Chen et al, 2020b;Civantos et al, 2020;Cortés-Álvarez et al, 2020;Dal'Bosco et al, 2020;De Boni et al, 2020;Fernández et al, 2020;Feter et al, 2021;Giardino et al, 2020;Goularte et al, 2021;Guiroy et al, 2020;Loret de Mola et al, in press;Malgor et al, 2020;Martinez et al, 2020;Medeiros et al, 2020;Monterrosa-Castro et al, 2020;Mora-Magaña et al, 2020;Paz et al, 2020;Puccinelli et al, 2021;Robles et al, 2020;Samaniego et al, 2020;Schuch et al, 2020;Scotta et al, 2021;Serafim et al, 2021;Torrente et al, 2021;Werneck et al, 2021;Jaime A. Yáñez et al, 2020; Jaime Stephen X Zhang et al, 2021;Stephen Xu Zhang et al, 2021) involving 101,772 participants from Latin America were included in this meta-analysis (Table 1). Some studies include multiple independent samples.…”

“…In the random-effects model, the pooled prevalence of anxiety was 32% (95% CI: 27%-38%, I 2 = 99.8%) in the 29 studies (Figure 2A). A total of 27 samples from 24 studies (Badellino et al, 2020;Campos et al, 2020;Civantos et al, 2020;Cortés-Álvarez et al, 2020;Dal'Bosco et al, 2020;De Boni et al, 2020;Fernández et al, 2020;Feter et al, 2021;Giardino et al, 2020;Goularte et al, 2021;Guiroy et al, 2020;Loret de Mola et al, in press;Martinez et al, 2020;Medeiros et al, 2020;Mora-Magaña et al, 2020;Paz et al, 2020;Puccinelli et al, 2021;Robles et al, 2020;Samaniego et al, 2020;Schuch et al, 2020;Serafim et al, 2021;Torrente et al, 2021; Stephen X Zhang et al, in press) reported the prevalence of depression among 53,622 respondents. Among all the depression survey tools, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 was the most frequently used (45.83%), followed by HADS (16.67%), DASS-21 (12.5%), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) (4.17%).…”