The Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Graduating Class Students at the University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia

Figures & data

Table 1 Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Graduating Class Students in the University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020 (N= 338)

Variables	Category	Frequency (n= 338)	Percentage (100%)
Age	20–24 years	198	58.6
	25–29 years	118	34.9
	≥ 30years	22	6.5
Sex	Male	190	56.2
	Female	148	43.8
Residence	Rural	143	42.3
	Urban	195	57.7
Religion	Orthodox	262	77.5
	Muslim	29	8.6
	Protestant	38	11.2
	Catholic	9	2.7
Field of study	Health	64	18.9
	Non-Health	274	81.1
Living with family	Yes	294	87.0
	No	44	13.0

Table 2 Behavioral and Clinical-Related Characteristics of Graduating Class Students in the University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020 (N= 338)

Variables	Category	Frequency (n= 338)	Percentage (100%)
Diagnosed with chronic disease	Yes	39	11.5
	No	299	88.5
Confirmed/suspected case in the family	Yes	34	10.1
	No	304	89.9
History of mental disorders	Yes	27	8.0
	No	311	92.0
Substance use	Yes	64	18.9
	No	274	81.1
Perform physical exercise	Yes	230	68.0
	No	108	32.0

Table 3 Personal Characteristics of Graduating Class Students at the University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020 (N= 338)

Variables	Response	Frequency	Percent (%)
Knowledge about COVID-19 preventive measures	Good	320	5.3
	Poor	18	94.7
Attitude towards COVID-19 preventive measures	Positive	300	88.8
	Negative	38	11.2
Practicing COVID-19 preventive measures	Yes	179	53.0
	No	159	47.0
Fear of infecting family members	Yes	211	62.4
	No	127	37.6
Contact history	Yes	52	15.4
	No	286	84.6
Living with a family aged > 60 years old	Yes	118	34.9
	No	220	65.1

Table 4 Responses of Graduating Class Students to the Stress Scale at the University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020 (n=338)

Statements	Response (Frequency (Percentage))
	Did Not Apply to Me at All	Applied to Me to Some Degree	Applied to Me to a Considerable Degree	Applied to Me Very Much
I found it hard to wind down	56 (16.6%)	55 (16.3%)	109 (32.2%)	118 (34.9%)
I tended to over-react to situations	68 (20.1%)	95 (28.1%)	132 (39.1%)	43 (12.1%)
I felt that I was using a lot of nervous energy	86 (25.4%)	103 (30.5%)	69 (20.4%)	80 (23.7%)
I found myself getting agitated	93 (27.5%)	61 (18.0%)	84 (24.9%)	100 (29.6%)
I found it difficult to relax	58 (17.2%)	76 (22.5%)	92 (27.2%)	112 (33.1%)
I was intolerant of anything that kept me from getting on with what I was doing	116 (34.3%)	93 (27.5%)	75 (22.2%)	54 (16.0%)
I felt that I was rather touchy	167 (49.4%)	92 (27.2%)	30 (8.9%)	49 (14.5%)

Table 5 Responses of Graduating Class Students to the Anxiety Scale at the University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020 (n=338)

Statements	Response (Frequency (Percentage))
	Did Not Apply to Me at All	Applied to Me to Some Degree	Applied to Me to a Considerable Degree	Applied to Me Very Much
I was aware of the dryness of my mouth	196 (58.0%)	69 (20.4%)	37 (10.9%)	36 (10.7%)
I experienced breathing difficulty (e.g. excessively rapid breathing, breathlessness in the absence of physical exertion)	220 (65.1%)	57 (16.9%)	39 (11.5%)	22 (6.5%)
I experienced trembling (e.g. in the hands)	210 (62.1%)	71 (21.0%)	32 (9.5%)	25 (7.4%)
I was worried about situations in which I might panic and make a fool of myself	120 (35.5%)	101 (29.9%)	65 (19.2%)	52 (15.4%)
I felt I was close to panic	136 (40.2%)	74 (21.9%)	80 (23.7%)	48 (14.2%)
I was aware of the action of my heart in the absence of physical exertion (e.g. sense of heart rate increase, heart missing a beat)	155 (45.9%)	91 (26.9%)	60 (17.8%)	32 (9.5%)
I felt scared without any good reason	117 (34.6%)	73 (21.6%)	89 (26.3%)	59 (17.5%)

Table 6 Responses of Graduating Class Students to the Depression Scale at the University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020 (n=338)

Statements	Response (Frequency (Percentage))
	Did Not Apply to Me at All	Applied to Me to Some Degree	Applied to Me to a Considerable Degree	Applied to Me Very Much
I could not seem to experience any positive feeling at all	121 (35.8%)	99 (29.3%)	70 (20.7%)	48 (14.2%)
I found it difficult to work up the initiative to do things	94 (27.8%)	76 (22.5%)	96 (28.4%)	72 (21.3%)
I felt that I had nothing to look forward to	108 (32.0%)	81 (24.0%)	66 (19.5%)	83 (24.6%)
I felt down-hearted and blue	116 (34.5%)	74 (21.9%)	73 (21.6%)	75 (22.2%)
I was unable to become enthusiastic about anything	152 (45.0%)	92 (27.2%)	52 (15.4%)	42 (12.4%)
I felt I was not worth much as a person	144 (42.6%)	86 (25.4%)	60 (17.8%)	48 (14.2%)
I felt that life was meaningless	143 (42.3%)	67 (19.8%)	53 (15.7%)	75 (22.2%)

Figure 1 The prevalence of stress, anxiety, and depression among graduating class students at the University of Gondar, northwest Ethiopia, 2020 (n= 338).

Table 7 Bivariable and Multivariable Logistic Regression Analysis of Factors Associated with Stress Among Graduating Class Students in the University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020 (N= 338)

Variables		Stress		OR with 95% CI		P-value
		Yes	No	Crude	Adjusted
Sex	Female	26	122	0.61(0.36, 1.05)	0.60 (0.33, 1.11)	0.106
	Male	49	141	1	1
Residence	Urban	36	159	0.60(0.36, 1.01)	0.44 (0.24, 0.80)*	0.007
	Rural	39	104	1	1
Living with a family	Yes	71	223	3.18(1.10, 9.21)	0.25 (0.07, 0.85)*	0.026
	No	4	40	1	1
Field of study	Non-health	69	205	3.25(1.35, 7.87)	0.39 (0.15, 1.00)	0.050
	Health	6	58	1	1
Chronic disease	Yes	16	23	2.83(1.41, 5.69)	1.79 (0.79, 4.06)	0.162
	No	59	240	1	1
Confirmed cases in the family	Yes	17	17	4.24(2.04, 8.81)	0.86 (0.27, 2.73)	0.791
	No	58	246	1	1
History of mental disorders	Yes	10	17	2.23(0.97, 5.09)	1.01(0.27, 3.83)	0.991
	No	65	246	1	1
Physical activity	No	35	73	2.28(1.34, 3.86)	2.18 (1.20, 3.96)*	0.010
	Yes	40	190	1	1
Attitude	Good	63	237	1	1	0.682
	Poor	12	26	0.58(0.28, 1.21)	1.22 (0.47, 3.19)
Practice	Poor	45	114	1.96 (1.16, 3.31)	1.94 (1.08, 3.50)*	0.027
	Good	30	149	1	1
Fear of infecting family members	Yes	52	159	1.48(0.85, 2.56)	1.72 (0.93, 3.20)	0.086
	No	23	104	1	1
Contact history	Yes	27	25	5.36 (2.86, 10.02)	6.55 (3.18, 13.53)*	<0.001
	No	48	238	1	1
Living with a person aged >60 years	Yes	38	80	2.35(1.39, 3.97)	1.64 (0.91, 2.98)	0.102
	No	37	183	1	1

Note: *Statistically significant at p-value <0.05.

Table 8 Bivariable and Multivariable Logistic Regression Analysis of Factors Associated with Anxiety Among Graduating Class Students in the University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020 (N= 338)

Variables	Response	Anxiety		OR with 95% CI		P-value
		Yes	No	Crude	Adjusted
Sex	Female	58	90	1.22(0.66–1.60)	1.17(0.69–1.97)	0.552
	Male	76	144	1	1
Residence	Urban	61	134	0.44(0.27–0.68)	0.36(0.22–0.61)*	<0.001
	Rural	73	70	1	1
Living with family	Yes	122	172	1.89(0.93–3.82)	0.66(0.29–1.51)	0.334
	No	12	32	1	1
Field of study	Non health	117	157	2.06(1.26–3.77)	0.49(0.23–1.07)	0.071
	Health	17	47	1	1
Chronic disease	Yes	23	16	2.43(1.23–4.80)	0.86(0.35–2.10)	0.753
	No	111	188	1	1
Confirmed cases in the family	Yes	23	11	3.63(1.71–7.73)	1.59(0.52–4.88)	0.921
	No	111	193	1	1
History of mental disorders	Yes	17	10	2.82(1.23–6.36)	0.45(0.15–1.36)	0.163
	No	117	194	1	1
Substance use	Yes	41	23	3.46 (1.96–6.13)	0.27(0.14–0.54)*	<0.001
	No	93	181	1	1
Physical exercise	No	53	55	1.77(1.11,2.82)	2.12(1.24–3.62)*	0.006
	Yes	81	149	1	1
Fear of infecting family members	Yes	95	116	1.85(1.12–2.94)	0.51(0.31–0.87)*	0.013
	No	39	88	1	1
Contact history	Yes	25	27	1.50(0.83–2.72)	1.14(0.54–2.40)	0.714
	No	109	177	1	1
Living with a person aged > 60 years old	Yes	53	65	1.40(0.89–2.21)	0.79(0.47–1.33)	0.382
	No	81	139	1	1

Note: *Statistically significant at p-value <0.05.

Table 9 Bivariable and Multivariable Logistic Regression Analysis of Factors Associated with Depression Among Graduating Class Students in the University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, 2020 (N= 338)

Variables		Depression		OR with 95% CI		P-value
		Yes	No	Crude	Adjusted
Residence	Urban	66	129	0.53(0.34, 0.83)	0.55(0.33, 0.89)*	0.016
	Rural	70	73	1	1
Living with a family	Yes	129	165	4.13(1.78, 9.57)	4.06(1.54, 10.73)*	0.005
	No	7	37	1	1
Field of study	Health	14	50	1	1
	Non-health	122	152	0.35(0.18, 0.66)	0.42(0.21, 0.84)*	0.015
Chronic disease	Yes	24	15	2.67(1.35, 5.31)	1.04(0.43, 2.54)	0.928
	No	112	187	1	1
Suspected/infected relatives	Yes	28	6	8.47(3.40, 21.09)	3.47(1.10, 10.95)*	0.034
	No	108	196	1	1
History of mental disorders	Yes	19	8	3.94(1.67, 9.28)	3.07(0.92, 10.27)	0.068
	No	117	194	1	1
Substance use	Yes	31	33	1.51(0.85, 2.61)	0.99(0.50, 1.96)	0.978
	No	105	169	1	1
Physical exercise	Yes	82	148	1	1
	No	54	54	0.55(0.35, 0.88)	1.74(1.04, 2.93)*	0.036
Contact history	Yes	31	21	2.55(1.39, 4.66)	1.59(0.69, 3.68)	0.280
	No	105	181	1	1

Note: *Statistically significant at p-value <0.05.