COVID-19 Pandemic Related to Anxiety Disorder Among Communities Using Public Transport at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 2020: Cross-sectional Study Design

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to be the World Health Organization’s focus for action for managing the spread and mortality. Public transport is mostly used in the city to serve many people at a time. It was a risky area for contracting the infection. The mental health of a community is vital to promote their immunity and day-to-day activities of humans. This study aimed to determine general anxiety disorder among public transport users in relation to new coronavirus pandemic during the initial phase at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The cross-sectional study design was conducted from March 15 to 25, 2020, using a stratified sampling technique. The structured interview was used to collect information on demographic data and general anxiety disorder for the past 2 weeks related to COVID-19. Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 was used to assess the outcome variable, and logistic regression analysis at a 95% confidence interval, p < 0.05, was used to predict variables associated with the outcome variable. This study enrolled 420 respondents who were using public transport in Addis Ababa. Out of the total, 30.7% of respondents had general anxiety disorder, and being female, daily labor, more than three family sizes, and no face mask use were variables associated with the outcome variable (p < 0.05). One third of the respondents experienced general anxiety disorder in response to the pandemic. This study finding indicates that there is a need for immediate mental health crisis intervention at public transport users especially on those identified groups of peoples.