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Increased Levels of Anxiety Among Medical and Non-Medical University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Arab Emirates
INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to increase anxiety levels within the community and in particular medical students who are already considered psychologically vulnerable groups. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, no study has yet estimated the effect of this pandemic on university students in...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Dove
2020
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7652570/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33177898 http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S273333 |
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author | Saddik, Basema Hussein, Amal Sharif-Askari, Fatemeh Saheb Kheder, Waad Temsah, Mohamad-Hani Koutaich, Rim Adnan Haddad, Enad Sami Al-Roub, Nora Marwan Marhoon, Fatema Adel Hamid, Qutayba Halwani, Rabih |
author_facet | Saddik, Basema Hussein, Amal Sharif-Askari, Fatemeh Saheb Kheder, Waad Temsah, Mohamad-Hani Koutaich, Rim Adnan Haddad, Enad Sami Al-Roub, Nora Marwan Marhoon, Fatema Adel Hamid, Qutayba Halwani, Rabih |
author_sort | Saddik, Basema |
collection | PubMed |
description | INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to increase anxiety levels within the community and in particular medical students who are already considered psychologically vulnerable groups. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, no study has yet estimated the effect of this pandemic on university students in the UAE or its impact on the psychological well-being of medical students. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We surveyed 1485 medical (comprising medical and dental) and non-medical university students across 4 emirates within the UAE. We used an online platform to assess knowledge, sources of information, changes in hygienic behavior, perceptions of fear and worry and anxiety levels using the generalized anxiety disorder 7 (GAD-7) scale. The GAD-7 score was measured at three time points: during hospital visits for medical/dental students, before the introduction of online learning and after online learning for all students. RESULTS: The majority of students demonstrated high levels of knowledge and utilized reliable sources of information. Non-medical students exercised higher compliance with social restrictions, while medical students practiced better hand hygiene. Almost half of students reported anxiety levels ranging from mild to severe with females reporting higher anxiety scores during hospital visits (OR=2.02, 95% CI, 1.41 to 2.91) and medical students reporting lower anxiety levels in comparison to dental students (OR=0.61, 95% CI, 0.45 to 0.84). Medical students reported higher levels of anxiety during their clinical rotations which decreased with the introduction of online learning, yet, non-medical students’ anxiety levels increased with online learning. CONCLUSION: This study provides important information on the initial response and anxiety levels in university students across the UAE during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings from our study can be used to support the development of effective screening strategies and interventions to build psychological resilience among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic or any other public health emergencies in the future. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7652570 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2020 |
publisher | Dove |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-76525702020-11-10 Increased Levels of Anxiety Among Medical and Non-Medical University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Arab Emirates Saddik, Basema Hussein, Amal Sharif-Askari, Fatemeh Saheb Kheder, Waad Temsah, Mohamad-Hani Koutaich, Rim Adnan Haddad, Enad Sami Al-Roub, Nora Marwan Marhoon, Fatema Adel Hamid, Qutayba Halwani, Rabih Risk Manag Healthc Policy Original Research INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to increase anxiety levels within the community and in particular medical students who are already considered psychologically vulnerable groups. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, no study has yet estimated the effect of this pandemic on university students in the UAE or its impact on the psychological well-being of medical students. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We surveyed 1485 medical (comprising medical and dental) and non-medical university students across 4 emirates within the UAE. We used an online platform to assess knowledge, sources of information, changes in hygienic behavior, perceptions of fear and worry and anxiety levels using the generalized anxiety disorder 7 (GAD-7) scale. The GAD-7 score was measured at three time points: during hospital visits for medical/dental students, before the introduction of online learning and after online learning for all students. RESULTS: The majority of students demonstrated high levels of knowledge and utilized reliable sources of information. Non-medical students exercised higher compliance with social restrictions, while medical students practiced better hand hygiene. Almost half of students reported anxiety levels ranging from mild to severe with females reporting higher anxiety scores during hospital visits (OR=2.02, 95% CI, 1.41 to 2.91) and medical students reporting lower anxiety levels in comparison to dental students (OR=0.61, 95% CI, 0.45 to 0.84). Medical students reported higher levels of anxiety during their clinical rotations which decreased with the introduction of online learning, yet, non-medical students’ anxiety levels increased with online learning. CONCLUSION: This study provides important information on the initial response and anxiety levels in university students across the UAE during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings from our study can be used to support the development of effective screening strategies and interventions to build psychological resilience among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic or any other public health emergencies in the future. Dove 2020-11-03 /pmc/articles/PMC7652570/ /pubmed/33177898 http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S273333 Text en © 2020 Saddik et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/). By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms (https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php). |
spellingShingle | Original Research Saddik, Basema Hussein, Amal Sharif-Askari, Fatemeh Saheb Kheder, Waad Temsah, Mohamad-Hani Koutaich, Rim Adnan Haddad, Enad Sami Al-Roub, Nora Marwan Marhoon, Fatema Adel Hamid, Qutayba Halwani, Rabih Increased Levels of Anxiety Among Medical and Non-Medical University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Arab Emirates |
title | Increased Levels of Anxiety Among Medical and Non-Medical University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Arab Emirates |
title_full | Increased Levels of Anxiety Among Medical and Non-Medical University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Arab Emirates |
title_fullStr | Increased Levels of Anxiety Among Medical and Non-Medical University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Arab Emirates |
title_full_unstemmed | Increased Levels of Anxiety Among Medical and Non-Medical University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Arab Emirates |
title_short | Increased Levels of Anxiety Among Medical and Non-Medical University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Arab Emirates |
title_sort | increased levels of anxiety among medical and non-medical university students during the covid-19 pandemic in the united arab emirates |
topic | Original Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7652570/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33177898 http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/RMHP.S273333 |
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