The distress of Iranian adults during the Covid-19 pandemic – More distressed than the Chinese and with different predictors

Abstract

Early papers on the mental health of the public during the Covid-19 pandemic surveyed participants from China. Outside of China, Iran has emerged as one of the most affected countries with a high death count and rate. The paper presents the first empirical evidence from Iranian adults during the Covid-19 pandemic on their level of distress and its predictors. On March 25-28, 2020, a dire time for Covid-19 in Iran, we surveyed 1058 adults from all 30 provinces in Iran using the Covid-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index (CPDI). The distress level of Iranian adults (mean: 34.54; s.d.: 14.92) was significantly higher (mean difference: 10.9; t=22.7; p<0.0001; 95% CI: 10.0 to 11.8) than that of Chinese adults (mean: 23.65; s.d.: 5.45) as reported in a prior study with the same measure of Covid-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index (CPDI). We also found the predictors of distress in Iran vary from those in China. Our findings that the predictors of distress in Iran vary from those in China suggest the need to study the predictors of mental health in individual countries during the Covid-19 pandemic to effectively identify and screen for those more susceptible to mental health issues.

When the storm is the strongest: Healthcare staff’s health conditions and job satisfaction and their associated predictors during the epidemic peak of COVID-19

“…Taken together, the results suggest distinct patterns of the predictors of the mental health conditions of healthcare staff in Iran and China during the COVID-19 crisis. Such distinct patterns of predictors among healthcare staff across countries resonant with an earlier study of the mental health of the public in Iran (Jahanshahi et al, 2020). Jahanshahi et al (2020) suggest the predictors differed because "different countries vary in their medical systems, the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), cultures, labor and employment conditions, the policies of lockdown, the ease of working from home and maintaining a living in a pandemic, and the information in both mainstream and social media".…”

“…Such distinct patterns of predictors among healthcare staff across countries resonant with an earlier study of the mental health of the public in Iran (Jahanshahi et al, 2020). Jahanshahi et al (2020) suggest the predictors differed because "different countries vary in their medical systems, the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), cultures, labor and employment conditions, the policies of lockdown, the ease of working from home and maintaining a living in a pandemic, and the information in both mainstream and social media". Our results, hence, corroborate their suggestions, and we suggest future research to identify useful predictors of mental health in individual countries during the COVID-19 pandemic for not only the public but also healthcare staff.…”

Early Evidence and Predictors of Mental Distress of Adults One Month in the COVID-19 Epidemic in Brazil

“…The mean CPDI of sampled adults in Brazil is also significantly higher than the mean CPDI of 34.54 (14.92) of adults in Iran on February 28-30, 2020 (t=4.09; p<0.0001; 95% CI: 1.61 to 4.59). 7 Based on the cut-off values of distress in CPDI, 52.0% of sampled adults in Brazil experienced mild or moderate distress, and 18.8% experienced severe distress, compared to 47.0% and 14.1% in Iran and 29.3% and 5.1% in China respectively.…”

Statewide Survey of Psychological Distress Among People of Tamil Nadu in the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…9 Similarly, 14.1% of the Iranian public (n=1058) suffered severe stress and 47%, moderate stress. 10 Among Indians, a small unstructured general public survey (n = 662) reported that the respondents were preoccupied with the thoughts of COVID-19 (80%) and had sleep difficulties (12.5%), paranoia about acquiring COVID-19 (37.8%), and stress (36.4%). Four of five Indians perceived mental healthcare needs.…”