Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32677926›Full record

ArticleBMC psychiatry2020

Anxiety symptoms and preventive measures during the COVID-19 outbreak in Taiwan.

Li Ping Wong, Chia-Chun Hung, Haridah Alias, Tony Szu-Hsien Lee

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
42citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
8.0field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

42 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 103 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Li Ping WongCentre for Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Practice, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. wonglp@ummc.edu.my.ORCID 0000-0002-0107-0532
Chia-Chun HungInstitute of Brain Science, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Haridah AliasCentre for Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Practice, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tony Szu-Hsien LeeDepartment of Health Promotion and Health Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan. tonylee@ntnu.edu.tw.
National Taiwan Normal University · TWNational Yang Ming Chiao Tung University · TWUniversity Malaya Medical Centre · MYUniversity of Malaya · MY

Funding

National Taiwan Normal University. National Taiwan Normal University.
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIt is hypothesized that anxiety and behavioral responses are intense at the beginning of an epidemic. The objective of this study was to investigate anxiety symptoms and use of preventive measures against COVID-19. The study also compared the association between preventive measures and anxiety symptoms during the week immediately preceding the study and those symptoms and measures at the beginning of the outbreak.

methodsA cross-sectional population survey using an online questionnaire commenced on 14 February 2020. The study participants were residents of Taiwan ages 20 to 70 years. The 6-item state version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-6) was used to assess anxiety symptoms. The questions about preventive measures asked participants about their personal protection, cough etiquette, contact precautions, voluntary quarantine, and prompt reporting. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the factors influencing an increase in the preventive measures scores.

resultsOf a total of 3555 completed responses, a total of 52.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 50.4-53.7) of the respondents reported moderate to severe levels of anxiety symptoms in the past week, whereas 48.8% (95%CI 47.2-50.5) reported moderate to severe anxiety symptoms at the beginning of the outbreak. With a higher score indicating greater anxiety, the median scores for anxiety symptoms in the past week and at the beginning of the outbreak were 46.7 (IQR [interquartile range] 36.7-53.3) and 43.3 (IQR 36.7-53.3), respectively. The median scores for the preventive measures taken in the past week and at the beginning of the outbreak were 26.0 (IQR 21.0-30.0) and 24.0 (IQR 19.0-28.0), respectively, out of a maximum score of 36. In the multivariable analysis, an increased anxiety symptom score from the beginning of the outbreak to the past week (adjusted OR = 7.38, 95%CI 6.28-8.66) was a strongly significant determinant of an increased preventive measures score in the past week compared with the score at the beginning of the outbreak.

conclusionsAnxiety and preventive measures scores were high and increased with the epidemic rate. Higher anxiety was associated with an increased use of preventive measures against COVID-19.

Indexed as

Health BehaviorPersonal Protective EquipmentQuarantineAdultAgedAnxietyBetacoronavirusCoronavirus InfectionsCOVID-19Cross-Sectional StudiesDisease OutbreaksFemaleHumansLogistic ModelsMaleMiddle AgedCOVID-19Preventive measuresPublic anxietySTAI-6Taiwan

Identifiers

PMID32677926
PMCPMC7364127
OpenAlexW3042984527

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.