Healthcare- Seeking Behaviours and the Impact of Covid-19 preventive Measures on Anxiety and Depression among Survivors of Covid-19 at the Buea Regional Hospital Cameroon: A Case Control Study

Abstract BackgroundThe outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic led to the implementation of preventive measures to curb the spread of the virus. The fear of contracting the virus and some infection prevention and control measures have been associated with poor mental and brain health outcomes .We therefore assessed the health care- seeking behaviours and the impact of COVID-19 preventive measures on depression and anxiety among survivors of COVID-19 at the Buea Regional Hospital. Materials and MethodsThe study design was an unmatched case control study. Cases were identified from health facility records and the controls were patients who are inhabitants of same community. Data was collected using an online google questionnaire and a physical questionnaire which was self-administered .We used the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale to assess anxiety and depression. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 25.0 and a P-value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.ResultsWe recruited 245 participants with the mean age for our participants being 32.89±13.17years. With regards to Health care -seeking behaviours 78.9 vs 75.1% (OR 1.24, CI: 0.65-2.38) sought care from the hospital among the cases and controls respectively. Survivors of COVID-19 were about 12 times more likely to seek for conventional medication as a treatment for their disease (OR 11.96, 95% CI: 6.25-22.90, p=0.000) compared to the controls. Survivors of COVID-19 presented with higher mean scores for depression and anxiety compared to the controls respectively (7.74±3.93 vs. 4.01±4.48, p=0.000), (6.84±3.87 vs. 3.10±3.75, p=0.000). Participants who wore face mask were 3 times more likely to be anxious and depressed than those who did not. Factors associated with adverse mental health outcomes were losing a love one due to COVID-19, quarantine and social isolation among the casesConclusions Health care seeking behaviour was more appropriate in the cases than the controls. COVID-19 preventive measures were associated with a negative psychosocial impact among COVID-19 survivors; thus public health officials should implement measures targeting psychosocial support of the population