PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON KING SAUD UNIVERSITY FOR HEALTH SCIENCE STUDENTS IN ALAHSA-SAUDI ARABIA

Introduction and Aim:The new coronavirus disease outbreak 2019 (COVID-19, originally referred to as 2019-nCoV and later referred to as SARS-CoV-2) started in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, after 8 years of the MERS-CoV epidemic outbreak and the root of COVID-19 infection was mostly thought to be the Chinese horseshoe bats]1[. As countries have reported a sharp rise in mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, stress, sleep disorder, and fear, among their people, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic creates a psycho emotional chaotic situation. Several countries have taken steps or already graduating healthcare professional students early to support professional resources due to the rapid increase in COVID-19 patients and the shortage of health care professionals]4[.The aim of the study was to determine the psychological impact of the COVID-19 on the King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences students in Al-ahsa.

Method: Psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic among KSAU-HS students in Alahsa-Saudi Arabia assessed by the questionnaire. The purpose of the questionnaire to measure the Psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic among KSAU-HS students in Alahsa-Saudi Arabia.We share the link between the KSAU Al-ahsa and students through email. Allied health science students in KSAU-HS -Al-Ahsa. This study was conducted in KSAU-HS in Al-Ahsa students. The data collected from KSAU Al-ahsa. 30 questions used to assess different aspects of psychological impact on KSAU-HS students, using PHQ-9, GAD-7, and PSS-14 scale with five options (Strongly Disagree – Disagree – Normal – Agree Strongly Agree. In addition, it is cross-sectional because the study collected data at giving point across the study.

Result:There are 102 students participate in this study. All of the participants were from KSAU students in Al-ahsa that met the inclusion criteria in this study. 40.2% of the participants have moderate depression, 48% of the participants have moderate anxiety and 82.4% of the participants have moderate stress.

Conclusion: PHQ-9 results shows that 2% of the students are normal, 19.6% have mild depression, 40.2% have moderate depression, 34.3% have moderately severe depression and 3.9% have severe depression. GAD-7 results shows that 9.8% of the students are normal, 31.4% have mild anxiety, 48% have moderate anxiety and 10.8% have severe  anxiety. PSS-14 result shows that 9.8% of the students have low stress, 82.4% have moderate stress and 7.8% have high-perceived stress.