Anxiety and Stress Related to COVID-19 Among the Community Dwelling Older Adults Residing in the Largest Refugee Camp of the World

Afsana Anwar; Uday Narayan Yadav; Md Nazmul Huda; Sukanta Das; Simon Rosenbaum; A R M Mehrab Ali; Probal Kumar Mondal; Abu Ansar Md Rizwan; Syed Far Abid Hossain; Suvasish Das Shuvo; Sabuj Kanti Mistry

doi:10.1007/s10597-023-01101-5

Anxiety and Stress Related to COVID-19 Among the Community Dwelling Older Adults Residing in the Largest Refugee Camp of the World

Community Ment Health J. 2023 Aug;59(6):1181-1192. doi: 10.1007/s10597-023-01101-5. Epub 2023 Mar 6.

Authors

Afsana Anwar¹, Uday Narayan Yadav^{2

3}, Md Nazmul Huda^{4

5}, Sukanta Das⁶, Simon Rosenbaum⁷, A R M Mehrab Ali⁵, Probal Kumar Mondal¹, Abu Ansar Md Rizwan¹, Syed Far Abid Hossain⁸, Suvasish Das Shuvo⁹, Sabuj Kanti Mistry^{10

11

12

13}

Affiliations

¹ Health and Nutrition, Social Assistance &Amp; Rehabilitation for the Physically Vulnerable (SARPV), SARPV Complex, Link Road, Cox's Bazar, 4700, Bangladesh.
² National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
³ Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
⁴ School of Medicine, Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown, NSW, 2560, Australia.
⁵ ARCED Foundation, 13/1, Pallabi, Mirpur-12, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁶ Department of Statistics, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, Bangladesh.
⁷ School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
⁸ BRAC Business School, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁹ Department of Nutrition and Food Technology, Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore, Bangladesh.
¹⁰ Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. smitra411@gmail.com.
¹¹ ARCED Foundation, 13/1, Pallabi, Mirpur-12, Dhaka, Bangladesh. smitra411@gmail.com.
¹² Department of Public Health, Daffodil International University, Dhaka, 1207, Bangladesh. smitra411@gmail.com.
¹³ Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia. smitra411@gmail.com.

Abstract

The current cross-sectional study was conducted among 864 older adults aged ≥ 60 years residing in Rohingya refugee camp through face-to-face interviews during November-December 2021. COVID-19-related anxiety was measured using the five-point Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) and perceived stress using the 10-point Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The linear regression model identified the factors associated with COVID-19-related anxiety and perceived stress. The prevalence of COVID-19-related anxiety and perceived stress was 68% and 93%, respectively. The average COVID-19-related anxiety score expected to be significantly higher among those who were physically inactive, concerned about COVID-19, had a close friend/family member diagnosed with COVID-19, and had some difficulty in getting food and routine medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the average perceived stress score was expected to be significantly higher among those without partners, who were feeling overwhelmed by COVID-19, and who experienced COVID-19-related anxiety during the pandemic. The findings suggest providing immediate psychosocial support to older Rohingya adults.

Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19-related anxiety; Older adults; Perceived stress; Rohingya.

MeSH terms

Aged
Anxiety / epidemiology
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Independent Living*
Pandemics
Refugee Camps