Anxiety and fear related to coronavirus disease 2019 assessment in the Spanish population: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has affected millions of people worldwide, compromising the responsiveness of governments and states and thus generating anxiety and fear at the population level.

Objective: To assess the level of anxiety and fear of coronavirus disease 2019 in a Spanish adult population group.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study, using the anxiety and fear of COVID-19 assessment scale (AMICO, for its acronym in Spanish). The sample was composed of 1038 subjects. Univariate and bivariate statistical analyses were performed, after analysis of normality in the data distribution. Categorical regression analyses were also executed.

Findings: The total sample size was 1036 subjects, 56.3% was made up of females, with a mean age of 48.11 years (SD = 15.13). The mean score obtained on the AMICO scale was 5.54 points (SD = 1.83), with a score range between 1.22 and 10. Bivariate analysis only demonstrated statistically significant differences in the mean score of the scale and the variables: sex, marital status, work area and academic level. The executed categorical regression analysis revealed an R² value of 0.75 and a significance of p = 0.00.

Conclusions: The results obtained show that the Spanish population presents moderate anxiety levels to coronavirus disease 2019. Women, married, with primary and/or secondary education level, and working in the public transport, services and/or hospitality sectors are more likely to have high levels of fear and anxiety.

Application to practice: These results could be used for therapeutic and preventive psychological interventions, and also to plan new research under sex perspective and observing the socio-economic environment.

Keywords: Anxiety; coronavirus disease 2019; fear; public health; questionnaire; stress; survey.