Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36810010›Full record

ArticleBMC psychiatry2023

The association of severe COVID anxiety with poor social functioning, quality of life, and protective behaviours among adults in United Kingdom: a cross-sectional study.

Jacob D King, Aisling McQuaid, Verity C Leeson, Oluwaseun Samuel, Josiah Grant, Muhamad Saad Imran Azeem, Kirsten Barnicot, Mike J Crawford

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

Article in BMC psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
4.1field-weighted citation impact, top 6% 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

5 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Observational
  4. Article
  5. Review
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

8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Jacob D KingDivision of Psychiatry, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Commonwealth Building, Hammersmith Hospital, W12 0NN, London, UK. j.king20@imperial.ac.uk.
Aisling McQuaidDivision of Psychiatry, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Commonwealth Building, Hammersmith Hospital, W12 0NN, London, UK.
Verity C LeesonDivision of Psychiatry, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Commonwealth Building, Hammersmith Hospital, W12 0NN, London, UK.
Oluwaseun SamuelDivision of Psychiatry, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Commonwealth Building, Hammersmith Hospital, W12 0NN, London, UK.
Josiah GrantImperial College School of Medicine, London, UK.
Muhamad Saad Imran AzeemImperial College School of Medicine, London, UK.
Kirsten BarnicotDivision of Health Services Research and Management, City University of London, London, UK.
Mike J CrawfordDivision of Psychiatry, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Commonwealth Building, Hammersmith Hospital, W12 0NN, London, UK.
Imperial College London · GBHammersmith Hospital · GBCity, University of London · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAnxiety about COVID-19 is common. For most people this is an appropriate response to the loss of livelihoods and loved-ones, disruptions to social networks, and uncertainty about the future. However, for others these anxieties relate to contracting the virus itself, a phenomenon termed COVID anxiety. Little is known about the characteristics of people with severe COVID anxiety or the impact it has on their daily lives.

methodsWe conducted a two-phase cross-sectional survey of people aged 18 or over who were living in United Kingdom, self-identified as anxious about COVID-19, and had a score of ≥9 on the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale. We recruited participants nationally through online adverts and locally via primary care services in London. Data on demographic and clinical factors were used in multiple regression modelling to examine the greatest contributors to functional impairment, poor health-related quality of life and protective behaviours in this sample of individuals with severe COVID anxiety.

resultsWe recruited 306 people with severe COVID anxiety between January and September 2021. Most were female (n = 246, 81.2%); they had a median age of 41 (range = 18-83). The majority of participants also had generalised anxiety (n = 270, 91.5%), depression (n = 247, 85.5%), and a quarter (n = 79, 26.3%) reported a physical health condition which put them at increased risk of hospitalisation with COVID-19. Half had severe social dysfunction (n = 151, 52.4%). One in ten reported never leaving their home, one in three washed all items brought into their house, one in five washed their hands constantly, and one in five of those with children reported not sending them to school because of fears of COVID-19. Increasing co-morbid depressive symptoms best explained functional impairment and poor quality of life after controlling for other factors.

conclusionsThis study highlights the high degree of co-occuring mental health problems, and the extent of functional impairment and poor health-related quality of life among people with severe COVID anxiety. Further research is needed to establish the course of severe COVID anxiety as the pandemic progresses, and steps that can be taken to support people who experience this distress.

Indexed as

COVID-19AdultAnxietyChildCross-Sectional StudiesDepressionFemaleHumansMaleQuality of LifeSocial InteractionAnxiety disordersCOVID-19Health behaviorHypochondriasisPandemic

Identifiers

PMID36810010
PMCPMC9943584
OpenAlexW4321434665

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.