Document Type : Research Article
Abstract
Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is a newly discovered respiratory syndrome which has adversely affected millions of people around the world. The study aims to estimate the psychological impacts of COVID-19 in the form of fear and anxiety among the healthcare students of the Central Region of Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study was conducted amongst health care students in Saudi Arabia. A non-probability convenience samplingapproach was adopted to collect data by mean of an online questionnaire on social media. The sample size was determined by using Epi info software; the minimum sample required for this study was 567. Likert scale with five points was used to measure healthcare students' fear and anxiety level. Data were analysed using SPSS version 23. The descriptive data were expressed as frequencies and percentages. Spearman correlation was used to determine the strength of the relationship between variables. Amongst 571 health care students, 359 were males, and 212 were females. Data revealed that 84 (15%) of students had a severe level of anxiety, 438 (77%) had a moderate level of anxiety and 49 (9%) of the students had mild level of anxiety. Correlation coefficient was found insignificant between gender, academic year and institute (=0.066, p=0.116), (=0.018, p=0.661) and (=0.034, p=0.423) respectively. The COVID-19 pandemic has a negative impact on higher education because of the long-lasting pandemic situation. Our study's results illustrate the critical need to implement approaches and prevention measures to address healthcare students' mental health.
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