Anxiety, Depression and Death Anxiety in Individuals with COVID-19

Omega (Westport). 2022 Sep 4:302228221124981. doi: 10.1177/00302228221124981. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the death anxiety, anxiety, and depression levels of the individuals staying at the hospital due to COVID-19. The study recruited 300 patients with confirmed COVID-19 who were staying at specialized clinics in the hospital. Three tools - A Patient Information Form, the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)-were used to collect data. The findings of the present study revealed that 28.7% of the participants were at a high risk for developing anxiety and 45.0% were equally at a high risk for developing depression. 33.3% of the participants suffered from high level of death anxiety. There was a positive and highly significant correlation between their death anxiety and their anxiety and depression scores (p < .001). Accordingly, more evidence-based studies need to be conducted that examine how effective non-pharmacological practices are at helping COVID-19 patients by identifying their anxiety, depression, and death anxiety. Furthermore, nurses need to take care of patient care in a holistic manner that would include addressing patients' psychological needs alongside their physical problems.

Keywords: COVID-19; anxiety; death anxiety; depression; nursing.