International Journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN: 2313-626X

Frequency: 12
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 Volume 8, Issue 4 (April 2021), Pages: 12-16

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 Original Research Paper

 Title: Public anxiety during Coronavirus-19 disease (COVID-19) in Saudi Arabia: Indication for a psychological assistance intervention

 Author(s): Daifallah Alrazeeni *

 Affiliation(s):

 EMS Department, Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz College for EMS, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

  Full Text - PDF          XML

 * Corresponding Author. 

  Corresponding author's ORCID profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8149-8650

 Digital Object Identifier: 

 https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2021.04.002

 Abstract:

The 2019 outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a worldwide health emergency that threatens the psychological health of the public. Research data are required to establish evidence-based approaches to alleviate the symptoms of anxiety during the outbreak. This study aimed to survey the public in Saudi Arabia to help in understanding their levels of anxiety during the COVID-19 outbreak. The researchers performed an on-line survey using snowball-sampling methods from April 1 through April 10, 2020. The online survey collected demographics information data, while the Social Anxiety Questionnaire for Adults (SAQ-A30) was used to measure anxiety levels. This study consisted of 709 respondents from different regions of Saudi Arabia. The general population reported mild to moderate rates of anxiety. Married respondents were associated with a significantly higher level of anxiety (p<0.05). The respondents reported mild to moderate anxiety during the outbreak of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia. The results of this study identify the implications to lower levels of anxiety that may be used during the COVID-19 outbreak to develop psychological health assistance interventions to improve the psychological health of vulnerable groups. 

 © 2021 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords: Anxiety, Public, Coronavirus-19, Saudi Arabia

 Article History: Received 23 September 2020, Received in revised form 28 November 2020, Accepted 1 December 2020

 Acknowledgment:

PSCEMS, Deanship of Scientific Research, KSU, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia supported this work, to which we are very grateful. The researcher also extends our gratitude to the PSCEMS students for their involvement in this study.

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Ethical considerations:

Committee for Research Ethics–King Saud University has reviewed and granted ethical permission for the study. Prior to the start of data collection, the objectives, benefits, and risks of the study were addressed with the participants, and it was ensured that participation in the study was voluntary. In addition, all participants were made aware that the information would be presented in a group format and that anonymity and confidentiality were assured. Participants were allowed to terminate the survey at any time they desired. Participants will be informed that they may not directly benefit from their participation in the study but that the findings of the study may be used to develop psychological assistance interventions that can help in alleviating the level of anxiety. The risks associated with participating in this study are considered minimal. Inconvenience in studying subjects will include time and energy spent during data collection.

 Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 Citation:

  Alrazeeni D (2021). Public anxiety during Coronavirus-19 disease (COVID-19) in Saudi Arabia: Indication for a psychological assistance intervention. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 8(4): 12-16

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