<p>Psychological Distress Amongst Health Workers and the General Public During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia</p>

Abstract

Background The rapid spread of COVID-19 worldwide has confined millions of people to their homes and has caused a substantial degree of psychological distress. This study aims to investigate the psychological distress impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among the Saudi population. Methods This is a cross-sectional study, using data collected from 3036 participants via an online self-reported questionnaire. The psychological distress was constructed using the COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index to classify individuals in the sample as having normal, mild or severe distress levels. The study used descriptive analysis and multinomial logistic regressions to examine the sociodemographic factors associated with psychological distress levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results The evidence showed that 40% of the Saudi population are distressed due to COVID-19, of whom approximately 33% are mildly distressed, while 7% are severely distressed. The distress levels are particularly high amongst the young, females, private sector employees and health workers, especially those working on the frontline. Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with increased distress amongst people living in Saudi Arabia. In support of evidence found in other countries, the study has established that the distress levels vary across different sociodemographic characteristics. Therefore, limiting people’s psychological damage demands both medium- and long-term policy strategies, which include mapping the rates of stress and anxiety for effective psychological treatment allocation and establishing innovative online methods of heightening people’s mental wellbeing.

Knowledge, attitudes, anxiety, and preventive behaviours towards COVID-19 among health care providers in Yemen: an online cross-sectional survey

“…Equally, the results revealed that the respondents' level of anxiety was significantly different based on their gender and educational levels. These results support the findings reported by Al-Hanawi et al [22] that respondents' level of worry or concern attributed to COVID-19 differs significantly across gender and educational level. This result is also in line with previous studies [23,24] carried out in China, indicating that females have higher levels of anxiety compared to males.…”

Knowledge, attitudes, anxiety, and preventive behaviors towards COVID-19 among health care providers in Yemen: an online cross-sectional survey

“…Likewise, the results revealed that the respondents' level of anxiety was signi cantly different based on their gender and educational levels. These results support results reported by Al-Hanawi et al [22] that respondents' level of worry due to COVID-19 differs signi cantly across gender and educational level. The result also in line with a previous studies [23,24] in China, which indicated that females have high levels of anxiety compared to males.…”

Knowledge, attitudes, anxiety, and preventive behaviours towards COVID-19 among health care providers in Yemen: an online cross-sectional survey

“…Equally, the results revealed that the respondents' level of anxiety was signi cantly different based on their gender and educational levels. These results support the ndings reported by Al-Hanawi et al [22] that respondents' level of worry or concern attributed to COVID-19 differs signi cantly across gender and educational level. This result is also in line with previous studies [23,24] carried out in China, indicating that females have higher levels of anxiety compared to males.…”