In 2020, Colombia faced months of restrictions and thousands of deaths from COVID-19, but a study by a group including a faculty member and a student from Univalle's School of Statistics found an additional impact: young women from a population in the city of Cali were the most impacted by depression and anxiety during this time.
In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the worldwide prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by stunning 25%, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), but there was not so much specific data for Colombia.
In the paper “Depressive symptomatology in adults during the COVID-19 pandemic” Journal of Investigative Medicine, the Colombian researchers found that many people had to adapt to major changes, such as studying or working from home, financial stress or their role in the household, for example, becoming a caregiver.
Figure: Demographic data of study participants. Credit: Ocampo González ÁA, Castillo García JF, Pabón Sandoval LC, et al. Depressive symptomatology in adults during the COVID-19 pandemic Journal of Investigative Medicine 2022;70:436-445.)
The Research
More than 1200 people participated in the study, mainly university students, their families and friends in the city of Cali, Colombia. A form designed on the Google platform was administered, including the items of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale."The idea is that the information obtained is converted into new knowledge by researchers in other areas of knowledge and in many cases, the development of new data analysis methodologies are our contribution to knowledge in areas such as biostatistics, epidemiology and psychometrics," explained Professor Tovar.
According to the results obtained by the group's statisticians, a very strong positive correlation was found between high scores for anxiety (excessive and persistent worries about everyday situations) and high scores for depression (emotional disorder that causes a feeling of constant sadness and a loss of interest in performing different activities).
"Young women, especially between 18 and 23 years old tend to have higher scores on the depression and anxiety scales," Profesor Tovar said, adding that the impact was greater in young people and economically dependent people.
The researchers found that people without children or financial dependents were more likely to show symptoms of depression during the pandemic.
Dr. Alvaro Alexander Ocampo Gonzalez, who is a graduate of the psychology program and the doctorate in basic medical sciences at the Universidad del Valle, and is currently a professor at the Universidad Santiago de Cali, explained that there was a greater impact on women compared to men, although, according to international studies, this behavior may not be exclusively due to the presence of the pandemic.
"The data suggest that women are more likely to show symptoms of depression and that individuals aged 24-29 were less likely to disclose symptoms of anxiety than people aged 18-23,'' Dr. Ocampo said.
Read more from the School of Statistics at the Universidad del Valle: Statistical analysis of Bogota's wind could reveal clues to global climate
Foto: José Rafael Tovar Cuevas. Credito: Andrew James/NCC-FI/Univalle
Colaboraciones y avanzas futuras
The study was a collaboration between researchers from many institutions in southwestern Colombia, including Universidad Santiago de Cali, Universidad Libre de Cali, and the Universidad del Tolima headquarters in the city of Cali.
Dr. Ocampo said that within this team, the collaboration of Professor Tovar was fundamental to the success of the project.
"Dr. José Rafael Tovar Cuevas, due to his excellent training and capacity for the analysis of this type of phenomena that relate sociodemographic variables with aspects alluding to health (in this case mental), contributed significantly to the conceptualization, formal analysis, research, methodology, data analysis and the preparation of the manuscript that embodies the findings of this study," Dr. Ocampo said.
Both Professor Tovar and Dr. Ocampo commented that the results of the study can be useful to decision makers in the design and implementation of public policies.
"In the interest of recognizing problems and coming up with intervention strategies that could contribute to mental health not only as an individual phenomenon, but as a topic of interest from the public health perspective," Dr. Ocampo said, adding that the information obtained is relevant for the orientation of intervention projects from the governmental entities in charge of looking after mental health in the southwest of Colombia.
According to the researchers, the findings are useful as background for other research on psychological well-being and public health in the context of times of isolation due to health emergencies, including early detection of symptoms. "We hope that other research can deepen the topic through our analysis," Professor Tovar said.
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