IAES Nawala: Anxiety posts COVID-19 pandemic

Greetings, fellow Nawala! May you always be in good health.

This is the IAES Nawala of the Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science. Today we would like to share some insights about anxiety post COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a serious impact both physically and mentally. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the spread of COVID-19 news had an impact in the form of anxiety. Iskandarsyah et al. conducted research related to the perception of COVID-19 disease information provision and health protection behavior as potential factors of feelings of anxiety and happiness in the population. Details can be seen in the following link:

Perception of information about COVID-19 and protective behaviours in relation to feelings of anxiety and happiness

Aulia Iskandarsyah, Whisnu Yudiana, Arina Shabrina, Jan Passchier

“This study aimed to assess the perception of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) information provision and the health protective behavior as potential factors of feelings of anxiety and happiness among the general population in Indonesia during the outbreak. We conducted an online survey using snowball sampling techniques. The online survey collected information about demographic data, information provision of COVID-19, health prevention behaviors, and feelings of anxiety and happiness. This study involved 3,686 participants in Indonesia in the period from 2nd of April to 4th of April 2020. We found that the most frequent source of information reported was social media. The majority of participants were satisfied with the amount of information provided (98%), however 54% of the participants reported that no information or very little information about the screening/test and the treatment of COVID-19 was provided. The most frequent protective behaviour was implemented cough attitude, avoided handshake, and applied physical distancing. High exposure of Information about COVID-19 and doing preventive measures were associated with greater anxiety. Nonetheless, some preventive measures appeared to be positively associated with feelings of happiness. Our results give an indications about the information provision, application of preventive measure and the factors associated with feelings of anxiety and happiness.”

Bad news can affect people’s mental health, especially COVID-19 patients who are in self-isolation. Mental health besides affecting one’s happiness, will certainly affect physical health. Zulfitri et al. conducted a study on the effect of anxiety levels on digestive disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the study can be read in full in the following article:

Anxiety level and functional dyspepsia incidence during COVID-19 pandemic

Zulfitri Zulfitri, Desi Maghfirah, Muhammad Ridho Akbar Eljatin, Sarah Firdausa, Zulfa Zahra

“The adaptation process of the learning system, the hospital environment, and the high risk of COVID-19 infection can be stressors for anxiety in clinical clerkship. Through the brain-gut–axis, the interaction of psychological factors, such as anxiety, can trigger symptoms related to functional dyspepsia. This study aimed to determine the relationship between anxiety levels and functional dyspepsia during the COVID-19 pandemic among clinical clerkship students. This research was conducted on clinical clerkship students/young doctors in 2021. This was an observational analytic study with a cross-sectional approach and involved 131 respondents. The hamilton anxiety rating scale (HARS) questionnaire was utilized to quantify the level of anxiety, while functional dyspepsia was measured based on Rome IV criteria. The data were analyzed by the Lambda (λ) coefficient of correlation test. This study revealed a significant relationship between anxiety level and functional dyspepsia during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Self-isolation is one of the policies implemented to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Self-isolation changes a person’s habits in living social life. Wan Ahmad et al. conducted research related to the anxiety status of retaining athletes. The study explains the impact of self-isolation on the archery performance of junior athletes. The results of this study can be seen in the following link:

Anxiety status of junior archers in COVID-19 during training isolation period towards the shooting performance

Wan Nurlisa Wan Ahmad, Mohd Azrul Hisham Mohd Adib, Irdayanti Mat Nashir, Mon Redee Sut Txi, Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh, Jing Rui Tang

“Studies have indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has had miserable effects on athlete performance due to the movement control order (MCO) announced by the Malaysia Government. Dealing with self-training without the coach’s guidance leads the archers to lose concentration, diminished self-confidence, and elevated anxiety levels. These factors contribute to inconsistent shooting performance. This study attempted to identify the archer’s anxiety status during the training isolation period on the shooting performance. A total of 32 participants from the recurve archery category were recruited and enrolled in a web-based cross-sectional study during the MCO. The CSAI-2R instrument was applied to participants to examine the psychological aspect. Training Isolation resulted in a significant effect on anxiety status and shooting performance. Analysis from CSAI-2R, low-level archers, indicated 5% more anxiety than top-level archers for both cognitive and somatic anxiety sub-component. In contrast, Top archers revealed a higher self-confidence mean of 2.32 (moderately high) than low archers (1.38). The result shows improvement in anxiety and score performance with complete online monitoring and coaching supervision first session until the 8th session. These findings could assist sports institutions in improving a better training experience and understanding the pandemic’s impact on athletes’ mental health during home isolation.”

In addition to athletes, the psychological impact of COVID-19 on the elderly requires serious attention. Depression and anxiety disorders during self-isolation can affect their quality of life in the future. Iswatun et al. conducted research related to the quality of life of the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research can be seen in more detail in the following article:

Depression, anxiety, coping strategies, quality of life of the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic

Iswatun Iswatun, Ah. Yusuf, Joko Susanto, Makhfudli Makhfudli, Abd. Nasir, Amellia Mardhika

“The occurrence of COVID-19 has a psychological impact on the elderly which will affect mental health and quality of life. This study aimed to identify the relationship between depression, anxiety, coping strategies with the quality of life of the elderly. This cross sectional study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cluster sampling technique was used to select 232 sample. This study employed geriatric depression scale (GDS 15) to measure depression, the geriatric anxiety inventory (GAI) to measure anxiety, brief resilient coping skala (BRCS) to measure coping stratecgies,  and the WHOQOOL-BRIEF questionnaire to measure quality of life among the elderly. Data analysis used Multiple Linear Regression statistical test. This study showed that there is a correlation between depression and quality of life (p=0.000), anxiety and quality of life (p=0.000) with coping strategies and quality of life (p=0.027). This study recommended the provision of appropriate psychological interventions to improve and maintain the quality of life among the elderly.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has left a lot of people with bad memories. Bad memories can certainly have a long-term impact on mental health. An unhealthy mentality can affect happiness in living life. Pratama et al. conducted research related to the mental health of COVID-19 patients who have undergone independent isolation at home. Details can be seen in the following article:

Mental well-being among COVID-19 patients in isolation house

Rini Mustikasari Kurnia Pratama, Diane Marlin, Silvia Mariana

“Psychosocial effects of COVID-19 patients have a long-term impact. Isolation is carried out to prevent transmission of the virus for several months causing anxiety, saturation, and even patients experiencing insomnia. Well-being is very subjective, differing from one individual to another, and where well-being can be used as an indicator of a person’s happiness or not. The sample this study was amounted to 50 people who were COVID-19 patients. They were undergoing self-isolation in the isolation house of Jambi Province, Indonesia. The study was conducted using self report questionnaire 29 (SRQ 29) and subjective well-being scale. In this study, most of the respondents experienced mental emotional disorders, negative emotions, and felt satisfied in living their lives. They experienced insomnia or sleep disorders.”

Emotional freedom technique (EFT) is a form of therapy that involves tapping on specific points in the body to release negative emotions and promote emotional healing. Tambunan et al. have investigated the effects of EFT on anxiety disorders, depression, and insomnia among COVID-19 patients. The full article can be seen in the following article:

Effect of emotional freedom techniques on anxiety, depression and insomnia among COVID-19 patients

Marcelina Boru Tambunan, Linda Suwarni, Selviana Selviana

“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on various aspects, including mental health, especially for people confirmed positive for COVID-19. People who are positively confirmed for COVID-19 tend to experience decreased immunity caused by feelings of anxiety, depression, and insomnia. emotional freedom technology (EFT) therapy has been proven to reduce mental health disorders but has never been applied to people who are positively confirmed for COVID-19. This study aimed to examine the effect of EFT therapy on mental health disorders (anxiety, depression, and insomnia) in COVID-19 patients in Pontianak City. This research method is quantitative with a quasi-experimental design in the COVID-19 isolation area provided by the Pontianak City government, namely Upelkes and Rusunawa in June 2021. The total sampling was employed consisting of 42 people. A validated questionnaire on anxiety, depression, and insomnia was employed as a research instrument. A repeated ANOVA test was used to analyze research data. The results showed that EFT therapy was effective in reducing anxiety, depression, and insomnia scores in positively confirmed people for COVID-19 (p-value <0.05). EFT therapy can overcome mental health disorders experienced by people who are positively confirmed for COVID-19 and as an alternative therapy to speed up the healing process.”

The articles above are just a small part of the research on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. To get more information, readers can visit the International Journal of Public Health Science (IJPHS) page for FREE via the following link: https://ijphs.iaescore.com/. 

editor: I. Busthomi, Z. Wahyuni