Fear of COVID-19 and Depression: A Comparative Study Among the General Population and Healthcare Professionals During COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis in Bangladesh

Najmuj Sakib; Tahmina Akter; Fatematuz Zohra; A K M Israfil Bhuiyan; Mohammed A Mamun; Mark D Griffiths

doi:10.1007/s11469-020-00477-9

Fear of COVID-19 and Depression: A Comparative Study Among the General Population and Healthcare Professionals During COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis in Bangladesh

Int J Ment Health Addict. 2023;21(2):976-992. doi: 10.1007/s11469-020-00477-9. Epub 2021 Feb 19.

Authors

Najmuj Sakib^#^{1

2}, Tahmina Akter^#^{1

3}, Fatematuz Zohra^{1

4}, A K M Israfil Bhuiyan¹, Mohammed A Mamun^{1

5}, Mark D Griffiths⁶

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Health Innovation, Networking, Training, Action and Research - Bangladesh (CHINTA Research Bangladesh), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
² Department of Microbiology, Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore, Bangladesh.
³ Department of Epidemiology, Bangladesh University of Health Sciences, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁴ Department of One Health, Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
⁵ Department of Public Health and Informatics, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁶ Psychology Department, Nottingham Trent University, Shakespeare Street, Nottingham, UK.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic affects individuals' mental health that can result in fear of getting COVID-19 infection and depression. As there is no prior study available, we evaluated these mental health outcomes and associated factors among the general population and healthcare professionals (HCPs) in Bangladesh. This nationwide cross-sectional study comprised 3388 individuals including 834 HCPs. The measures included socio-demographics, healthcare, and patient-care related information, the Bangla Patient Health Questionnaire, and the Bangla Fear of COVID-19 Scale. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to identify risk factors. Just over one-quarter of the participants were depressed, and was significantly associated with COVID-19 fear. Regression analyses showed that, both in general population and HCPs, depression and fear of COVID-19 were strongly predicted by being female; however, depression was inversely associated with being married. Particularly, among the HCPs, being restless while examining a patient with flu-like symptoms and while examining a patient returning from abroad was found to be significant predictor for both depression and fear of COVID-19. HCPs who were using single protective equipment for a week had greater depression and those who felt insecure due to the pandemic had a high level of COVID-19 fear. The findings identified major psychological impacts among the participants, suggesting the urgent need to promote mental wellbeing in both general population and medical professionals.

Keywords: Bangladesh; COVID-19; Depression; Fear; Healthcare professionals; Psychological impacts.