Impact of COVID-19 on Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Coping, and Grief in Pre-Health Professional Students in Lima, Peru

Abstract

Introduction: Peru had the world's highest death rate of COVID-19 with 213,000+ deaths and counting (Beaubien, 2021). Hospitalization and care for COVID-19 patients with limited resources has added stress to the shortage of frontline workers and resulted in students filling in the gap in acute care clinical settings. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of COVID-19 on mental health (e.g., depression, anxiety, stress, and coping) and grief on undergraduate nursing and pharmacy students in Lima, Peru. Methods: This was a quantitative, descriptive study that examined students’ self-report of mental health and grief at baseline during data collection. Results: Significant findings were reported in coping based on death of family member of COVID-19 ( p = .02). Anxiety was positively correlated with grief (Rho = 0.35, p < .001), stress (Rho = 0.53, p < .001), and depression (Rho = 0.76, p < .001). Grief was positively correlated with stress (Rho = 0.25, p < .001) and depression (Rho = 0.39, p < .001). Finally, stress was positively correlated with depression (Rho = 0.51, p < .001). Discussion: This is the first study to explore nursing and pharmacy students’ perceptions on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their mental health.