Phase wise assessment of COVID-19 related depression, anxiety, and stress level among patients in Herat city, Afghanistan - A descriptive study

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 affected not only people’s physical health but also their mental health too. The purpose of this study was to measure the level of depression, anxiety, and stress among COVID-19 patients before, during, and after being infected by the virus, living in Herat city of Afghanistan. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted among COVID-19 patients between April 22th 2020 and August 20th, 2020 living in Herat Province of Afghanistan. Our sample size was 100. To measure the level of depression, anxiety, and stress, among the COVID-19 patients, the developed version of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale 42 (DASS-42) standard questionnaire was used. Results: About 67% of participants were male and 14% of them were illiterate. Of all the participants in this study 12% of them used to smoke and 30% of them had a chronic disease accompanied. The result of this study shows that at the Start stage, 52.0% of the participants had a level of depression from mild to extremely severe. In the After stage only 10.0% of the participants had a level of depression from mild to severe. At the Start stage, 82.0% of the participants had a level of anxiety. At the End stage, 29.0% of the participants suffered a level of stress from mild to extremely severe. Conclusion: Generally, the COVID-19 patients’ mental health was affected negatively due to the disease. After passing the COVID-19 disease and knowing the facts about the disease, the anxiety, stress, and depression level of patients caused by the disease were decreased.