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. 2021 Mar 25;20(1):22.
doi: 10.1186/s12991-021-00344-4.

Psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia: an online cross-sectional study to identify the need for equal attention of intervention

Argaw Ambelu  1 , Zewdie Birhanu  2 , Yimenu Yitayih  3 , Yohannes Kebede  4 , Mohammed Mecha  5 , Jemal Abafita  6 , Ashenafi Belay  7 , Diriba Fufa  8
Affiliations

Psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia: an online cross-sectional study to identify the need for equal attention of intervention

Argaw Ambelu et al. Ann Gen Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led individuals to suffer from different levels of mental health problems such as psychological distress, anxiety, depression, denial, panic, and fear. This study aimed at determining the prevalence of psychological distress and associated factors among the Ethiopian population during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed through an online survey using different online platforms. The questionnaire was created through Google Form and the survey link was administered by e-mail, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Facebook. Educated Ethiopian population who have access to the internet were invited to participate through an online survey and addressed to 929 respondents. The study participants completed the survey anonymously without any personal identifier. The psychological distress was assessed using the Kessler 10-item tool to measure psychological distress. Data were analyzed using SPSS and logistic regression to examine mutually adjusted associations, expressed as adjusted odds ratios. A generalized additive model was also employed to identify additional predictors using R.

Results: The prevalence of high psychological distress among the study population was 236 (25.5%). Of all respondents, 421 (45.1%) had low psychological distress, 274 (29.4%) had moderate psychological distress, 164 (17.6%) had high psychological distress, and 72 (7.3%) had very high psychological distress. Psychological distress increased with being at young and middle-aged adults, getting information from social media, and not correctly practicing infection prevention and control measures to prevent COVID-19 infection. Respondents with high perceived severity had increased psychological distress. On the contrary, those with the highest score of perceived response efficacy had low distress.

Conclusion: Prevalence of psychological distress was substantial. The need for intervention of psychological distress inline with the prevention of COVID-19 is critically essential. The intervention target groups are those whose information sources are from social media, young and middle-aged adults, and those who do not correctly practice infection prevention and control measures against COVID-19 infection.

Keywords: COVID-19; Ethiopia; Online survey; Pandemic; Psychological distress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of means of information sources among Ethiopians, 2020
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The distribution of different variables into four dimensions of the psychological distress among literate Ethiopians, May 2020
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
GAM model of psychological distress against different predicting variables related to COVID-19 among the literate community of Ethiopia, 2020. PRE perceived response efficacy, PSE perceived self-efficacy—personal level, PV perceived vulnerability, PCE perceived collective efficacy, PS perceived severity/seriousness
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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