Prevalence of Stress, Anxiety and Depression Among Home-Isolation COVID-19 Patients in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

COVID-19 resulted in a dedication to both physical and mental health, with infected people experiencing home isolation as the main impact. The coronavirus outbreaks, together with COVID-19 pandemic research, show that people who experience isolation while they fear disease spread and face uncertainty with misinformation face increased stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms. The study measured stress, anxiety and depression symptoms among home-isolated COVID-19 patients in Kathmandu Valley. The research used a cross-sectional study design to examine 425 COVID-19 patients who were in home isolation throughout Kathmandu Valley. The researchers collected data through telephone interviews between 30 April and 21 May 2021 using the Nepali version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21). The researchers used descriptive statistics to identify stress, anxiety and depression, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to examine relationships between psychological variables (i.e., stress, anxiety and depression) and multiple linear regression analysis to find demographic factors that predict psychological outcomes. The participants had stress (66.8%), anxiety symptoms (57.2%), and depression symptoms (33.2%). Participants showed severe or extremely severe symptoms for stress at a rate of 14.8% and for anxiety at 10.0% and for depression at 6.0%. The researchers found a positive correlation between stress, anxiety, and depression, while the strongest relationship existed between anxiety and depression, which resulted in a correlation coefficient of r = 0.805 and a statistical significance of p < 0.01. The researchers found that age and education level were supporting factors for stress levels, while age, gender, income level and education level predicted anxiety and depression levels. The psychological distress level among home-isolated COVID-19 patients in Kathmandu Valley reached a significant level. Home-isolation and pandemic response strategies need to include mental health screening together with telephone counselling and accurate risk communication and targeted psychosocial support.