A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY TO ASSESS THE DEPRESSION, ANXIETY AND STRESS OF COVID-19 AMONG NURSING STUDENTS IN SELECTED COLLEGE AT VIRUDHUNAGAR

Mrs.S.Suganthi,Ms.P.SivaSundhari,Ms.M.A.PavithraSaras,Ms.A.Mahalakshmi,Ms.G.Sathya

1M.Sc(N),V.V.VanniaperumalNursingCollegeForWomen,Virudhunagar,TamilNadu,India.

2AssociatProfessor,V.V.VanniaperumalNursingCollegeForWomen,Virudhunagar,TamilNadu,India.

5IIIYearB.Sc(N)Students,V.V.VanniaperumalNursingCollegeForWomen,Virudhunagar,TamilNadu,India.

ABSTRACT

Covid-19 outbreak has affected not only physical health but also mental health and well-being. The rates of mental health symptoms among Chinese general populationduringthecovid-19pandemicwere27.9%fordepressionand31.6%foranxiety Nursingstudentsmaybeshunned,harassedandevenblamedaspotential covid-19 spreaders, though they were an important reserve force against covid-19 and other diseases. Of note, the psychological impact of covid-19 on nursing studentsremainedunclear

Aim:Theaimofthestudywastoassessthedepression,anxietyandstressofcovid-19amongnursingstudents.

MaterialsandMethods:Nonexperimentaldesignwasused.Byusingpurposingsampling165nursingstudentsattheagegroupof18-24yearswereselected.21itemDepressionAnxietyandStressScale(DASS-21)wasusedtoassessthedepressionanxietyandstressamongnursingstudents.

Results:Maximumnumberofstudentswereintheagegroupof19-20years(44%),MaximumstudentswereinIyear48(29%),Maximumstudentswereresidingat ruralareas74(45%),Majorityofthestudents152(92%)wereHindus,Majorityofthestudents134(81%)werelivinginnuclearfamilyandmajorityofthestudents76 (46%) were have a family income of Rs 10,000/ to Rs 20,000/. From the sample, About depression, majority of the students 114(69%) were not experienced depression.20(12%),15(9%),10(6%)and6(4%)studentswereinmild,moderate,severeandextremelyseverelevelofdepressionrespectively Aboutanxiety,majority ofthestudents91(55%)werenotexperiencedanxiety.18(11%),32(19%),11(7%)and13(8%)studentswereinmild,moderate,severeandextremelyseverelevelof anxiety Aboutstress,majorityofthestudents137(83%)werenotexperiencedstress.13(8%),11(7%),4(2%)studentswereinmild,moderateandseverelevelofstress andnostudentswerefoundinextremelyseverelevelofstress.

Conclusion:AsNursingstudentsareanimportantreserveforceagainstthecovid-19pandemic,specialpsychologicalinterventionsshouldbeimplementedtoassure theirmentalhealth.

KEYWORDS:Depression,Anxiety,Stress,Covid-19,NursingStudents.

INTRODUCTION:

Oneoftheextremechallengesforsurvivalisfacingapandemicofaninfectious diseaseoftheCOVID-19type.TheWorldHealthOrganization(WHO)declared COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11,2020 and as on March 24,2020, more than3.5lakhscaseshavebeenconfirmedandmorethan14,000deathshavebeen reported , affecting 190 countries worldwide (WHO website dated March 24,2020at21:00pmIndianstandardtime)andthesefigureshaveexponentially increasedtoabout27.19lakhscaseswithabout1.9lakhsdeathin1monthtime (WHOwebsitedateApril25,2020at05:30pmIndianstandardtime)[2,6].

Healthcareworkers,includingnurses,playedveryimportantrolesinfightingthe COVID-19 pandemic and have made invaluable contributions. Many nurses werebraveandheroic,workingatthefrontlinestotreatpatientswithCOVID-19 pneumonia despite the very high risk of infection. Frontline nurses, especially women, experienced a large psychological burden which manifested as symptomsofpost-traumaticstressdisorder(PTSD),depression,anxiety,andinsomnia.[1].Nursingstudentsisanimportantparttopromotethesustainabledevelopmentofthemedicalindustry Healthypsychologyisimportantforthemtocompletetheirstudiesandbecompetentforclinicalwork.Individualbeinginquarantinemayexperiencepsychologicaldistressintheformofanxiety,confusion andstresssymptoms.Inaddition,manypreviousstudiesshowedthatpsychological problem of medical students may affect the choice of medical career and even lead to student's suicide. Currently, several studies have reported nursing student'ssleepqualityandtheirstresslevelbeforeandduringlockdowndueto thecovid-19pandemic[3].

Compared with non-medical disciplines, nursing studies are characterized by full-time courses, stringent tests, formation of complex interpersonal relationships, and practice in a clinical environment. During nursing education, most nursing students experience moderate to high levels of stress during clinical training. With this, there is a high prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms among nursing students. Furthermore, nurses are the leading active partnersinprimaryandsecondaryinfectiousdiseasepreventionefforts.Duringthe Covid-19 pandemic, frontline nurses generally work under stress and even put theirlivesatriskinthecourseofperformingtheirduties.Thisisreflectedinseveral studies which reported that nursing students experienced anxiety and depressionintheearlymonthsoftheCovid-19pandemic.Moreover,nursingstu-

dentsarelikelytobefearfulofbeinginfectedbyCovid-19[4].

InIndiastudentshaveleftschoolandcollegesincemid-January2020andbeen quarantinedathomebecameaftercovid-19pandemic.Toourknowledge,studiesregardingdepression,anxietyandstressofcovid-19amongnursingstudents inIndiaarestilllacking.Therefore,theaimofthepresentstudywastoassessthe depression,anxietyandstressofcovid-19amongnursingstudents.Thefindings wouldcontributetoformulateeffectiveinterventionsonpsychologicalhealth,so astoimprovethementalhealthlevelofnursingstudents.

Aim:Thepresentstudyaimedatassessingthedepression,anxietyandstressof covid-19amongnursingstudentsinselectedcollegeatVirudhunagar

METHODOLOGY:

A quantitative research approach and Non-experimental research design was usedtocollectdata.Byusingpurposivesampling165nursingstudentsattheage groupof18-24yearswhoarestudyinginV.V.Vanniaperumalnursingcollegeat Virudhunagarwereselected.Formalpermissionwasobtainedfromthecollege authorityandoralconsentwasobtainedfromthenursingstudents.

Tool:Instrumentfordatacollectionconsistedoftwosections.

SectionI:Demographicvariablessuchasage,yearofstudy,residence,religion, typeoffamilyandfamilyincome

Section II: 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used to assessthedepression,anxietyandstressofcovid-19amongnursingstudents.

RESULTSANDDISCUSSION:

Demographicdataofthenursingstudents.

Maximumnumberofstudentswereintheagegroupof19-20years(44%),MaximumstudentswereinFirstyear48(29%),Maximumstudentswereresidingat ruralareas74(45%),Majorityofthestudents152(92%)wereHindus,Majority ofthestudents134(81%)werelivinginnuclearfamilyandmajorityofthestudents76(46%)werehaveafamilyincomeofRs.10,000/-Rs20,000/

Table-1:Distributionoffrequencyandpercentageofdepressionamong nursingstudents.

N=165

TypesofFamily: a)Nuclear family 95 16 10 9 5 b)Jointfamily 19 4 5 1 1 17.92* c)Extended family 0 0 0 0 0

Among165samplesofnursingstudents,114(69%)studentshaven'texperienced depression,20(12%)studentsareinmildlevelofdepression,15(9%)studentsare inmoderatelevelofdepression.,10(6%)studentsareinseverelevelofdepressionand6(4%)studentsareinextremelyseverelevelofdepression.(Table-1)

Table2:Distributionoffrequencyandpercentageofanxietyamong nursingstudents.

N=165

6. FamilyIncome: a)Below 10,000/44 11 3 4 1 b)10,00020,000/50 6 11 5 4 10.98# c)Morethan 20,000/20 3 1 1 1

*Significantat0.05level

#Non-significantat0.05level

Therewasastatisticallysignificantassociationbetweendepressionofcovid-19 among nursing students with selected demographic variables such as age (22.87*),yearofstudy(109.6*)andtypesoffamily(17.92*)atP=0.05level.It wasalsoevidentthattherewasnosignificantassociationbetweendepressionof covid-19 among nursing students with selected demographic variables such as residence (12.93#), religion (9.606#) and family income (10.98#) at P=0.05 level.(Table-4)

Among165samplesofnursingstudents91(55%)studentshaven'texperienced anxiety, 18(11%) students arein mildlevelof anxiety, 32(19%) students arein moderate level of anxiety, 11(7%) students are in severe level of anxiety and 13(8%)studentsareinextremelyseverelevelofanxiety (Table-2).

Table3:Distributionoffrequencyandpercentageofstressamong nursingstudents.

N=165

Table5:Associationofselecteddemographicvariableswithanxietyof covid-19amongnursingstudents N=165

S. No. Demographic Variables

1. Age: a)17-18Years b)19-20Years c)21-22Years d)23-24Years

2. YearofStudy: a)IYear b)IIYear c)IIIYear d)IVYear

Normal Mild Moderate Severe Extremely Severe X

13 53 26 0

20 36 22 14

4 6 8 0

4 3 6 5

10 8 14 0

16 1 2 13

2 2 6 0

5 0 0 5

2 4 7 0 25.41*

3 0 3 7 49.0*

Among165samplesofnursingstudents,137(83%)studentshaven'texperienced stress,13(8%)studentsareinmildlevelofstress,11(7%)studentsareinmoderate level of stress, 4(2%) students are in severe level of stress and no students are foundinextremelyseverelevelofstress (Table3).

Table4:Associationofselecteddemographicvariableswithdepressionof covid-19amongnursingstudents

N=165

3. Residence: a)Urban b)Semiurban c)Rural

4. Religion: a)Hindu b)Christian c)Muslim

5. TypesofFamily: a)Nuclear family b)Jointfamily c)Extended family

6. FamilyIncome: a)Below 10,000/b)10,00020,000/c)Morethan 20,000/-

*Significantat0.05level

30 24 39

81 8 3

80 12 0

7 2 9

16 2 0

12 6 0

12 4 15

32 0 0

24 8 0

6 0 4

10 0 0

5 1 7 9.44#

13 0 0

8.06#

6 4 0

12 1 0 9.29#

42 42 14

#Non-significantat0.05level

3 8 3

14 12 5

1 7 2

3 7 2

16.79*

Therewillbeastatisticallysignificantassociationbetweenanxietyofcovid-19 among nursing students with selected demographic variables such as age (25.41*),yearofstudy(49.0*),familyincome(16.79*).atP=0.05level.Italso evident that there was no significant association between anxiety of covid-19 amongnursingstudentswithselecteddemographicvariablessuchasresidence (9.44#),religion(8.06#),typesoffamily(9.29#)atP=0.05level.