Keywords : depressive symptoms
Effect of COVID 19 pandemic lockdown on sleep pattern of university students: A web based cross sectional study
European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine,
2022, Volume 9, Issue 2, Pages 1266-1273
Objectives: In addition to the physical morbidity and mortality, COVID-19 Pandemic has created a mental burden on the population as a whole. In our present web based cross sectional study we tried to assess the prevalence of the sleep pattern and different psychological problem in young University students.
Material and Methods: Using a web based study we collected data from 100 University students who volunteered to participate. We analyzed the demographic data, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), depressive symptoms and sleep quality.
Results: The overall prevalence of GAD, depressive symptoms and sleep quality of the students were 100%, 79% and 79% respectively. Bivariate regression analysis showed female students to be more likely to have mild anxiety and moderately severe depression whereas younger age students were more likely to have mild anxiety. There was a reduction in physical activity in 58% of students.
Conclusion: In our study, we found the recent COVID-19 outbreak as a major psychological burden for the student population irrespective of gender and age. Formulation of a prior guideline, targeted at such group of population during a pandemic is necessary to avoid the development of such psychological problems as well as their fatal consequences.