Perceived Stress and Anxiety Symptoms among Caregivers of Hospitalized COVID-19 active cases in Dharwad Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences-COVID Special Hospital Karnataka India

Abstract

Background: As per our knowledge studies have not been done around the world on the immediate family of Covid-19 inpatient active cases since the onset of the Covid-19 epidemic. The presence of a severe Covid-19 condition in inpatients may impact the whole family, especially the primary caregivers. This study aims to assess perceived stress and anxiety in primary caregivers of hospitalized persons with Covid-19 in a tertiary care hospital in India. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted.  Forty-five caregivers of patients with Covid-19 were taken up for the study. The assessment tools of the study included socio-demographic details, Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS), and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A). The selected data were analyzed through quantitative and qualitative methods. Results: Study findings suggest that high perceived stress was seen in the majority of the caregivers. They also manifested high levels of anxiety and there was a significant positive correlation between perceived stress and anxiety among caregivers. Conclusions: The study found that in inpatient care during the Covid-19 epidemic primary caregivers of Covid-19 patients experienced enormously high levels of perceived stress, potentially impairing their ability to cope with the event.

Keywords: Caregiver, mental health, Covid-19 positive cases