Psychological impact of mass quarantine on population during pandemics—The COVID-19 Lock-Down (COLD) study

Abstract

Background Quarantine often is an unpleasant experience. The aim of this study is to explore the degree of psychological distress in terms of-Depression, Anxiety and Stress among the adult population in India during the strict 21 days mandatory lockdown. We hypothesize that quantification of psychological impact of current situation will help us to modify the policies and implementation strategies. This assessment might also help in future to keep targeted services in place, to cope up with the psychological distress of the quarantined population. Method A cross sectional survey design was adopted to assess the psychological state of general population in India, during the COVID-19 mandatory lockdown period, with the help of a validated questionnaire. Findings The reported prevalence of depression was around 30.5%, which was the highest among the variables of psychological health. Anxiety was reported by 22.4%, followed by stress which was seen in 10.8% of respondents. In the third week the incidence of depression (37.8% versus 23.4%; p<0.001), anxiety (26.6% versus 18.2%; p<0.001) and stress (12.2% versus 9.3%; p<0.045) was reported to be significantly higher as compared to second week. Interpretation Our results suggest a progressively detrimental impact of lockdown on various aspects of psychological health. We noticed around eight to ten fold increase in the prevalence of depression (30.5%) and anxiety (22.4%) during lockdown, as compared to baseline

Mental health during COVID-19 lockdown in India: Role of psychological capital and internal locus of control

“…Furthermore, the term ‘lockdown’ has negative connotations being associated with imprisonment and infringement of personal liberty (Arora, Jha, Alat, & Das, 2020 ; Pfefferbaum & North, 2020 ). During COVID-19 lockdowns too, the disruption of personal and professional lives have been associated with several mental health issues (Odriozola-González, Planchuelo-Gómez, Irurtia, & de Luis-García, 2020 ; Pandey et al, 2020 ; Zhang, Wang, Rauch, & Wei, 2020 ). The most commonly reported were feelings of loss of control, depression, and anxiety- and stress-related conditions such as panic disorder, worry about own health and that of loved ones, and difficulty in sleeping or concentrating (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020 ; Le et al, 2020 ; Pierce et al, 2020 ; Roy et al, 2020 ; Tee et al, 2020 ; Wang et al, 2020a ; Wang et al, 2020b ; Xiong et al, 2020 ).…”

Virtual Group Exercises and Psychological Status among Community-Dwelling Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Feasibility Study

“…While these measures were effective in controlling viral transmission, they are expected to have a negative impact on the psychosocial health of the community [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Psychological distress was reported between 12 and 52 percent in older adults during this pandemic [ 6 , 7 ].…”

Increased worsening of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients during Covid-19-related lockdown in France

“…The Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent country lockdowns (LD) precluded in-person followup. The impact of sanitary restrictions has been studied in the general population and an increased frequency of anxiety, depression or sleep disturbances have been documented (3,4). Delays in diagnosis have been described in Guillain-Barr e syndrome or for atrial fibrillation (5,6).…”