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Perceived stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador

Abstract:

The new coronavirus pandemic is the biggest public health crisis the world has faced in more than a century. The fears and uncertainties generated by the sudden arrival, high danger and exponential growth of the disease together with subsequent measures such as isolation that drastically modified the routine, standard of living and economy of each individual greatly influenced the mental health of the patients. people, raising the reports of anxiety, depression and stress in the population. In order to diagnose the levels of the latter associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, a non-probability sampling was applied to students and professors of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the University of Guayaquil (Ecuador) and health professionals, applying the Perceived Stress Scale (EEP-10), adapted and validated to the context of COVID-19, with quantitative, descriptive and transversal approaches. A total of 860 surveys were accepted, predominantly female (68.6%), and where 61% of the participants reported being a student while 27.8% work in health care. 13% of the respondents showed high levels of perceived stress with a mean of x = 17.017 (± 7.15) between a minimum value of 0 and a maximum of 40. In the multivariate analysis it was determined that gender (-2,399), having a family member with chronic diseases (-1,61), family member diagnosed with COVID-19 (-1,764) and family member who died with COVID-19 (-2,3) are variables that significantly influence the level of perceived stress.