A Comparative Study of Anxiety in Indonesia and Nepal During COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: Indonesia and Nepal, which are in the World Health Organization South-East Asia Region, are the countries with the highest numbers of confirmed cases and deaths since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic outside of the Region of the Americas and the European Region. Since its first confirmed case on March 2 d , Indonesia has reported 100,303 cases and 4,838 deaths as of July 28, which is the highest number of cases in Southeast Asia. As restrictions in response to the pandemic continue, the public’s psychological anxiety is gradually increasing.
Methods: There were 889 participants (university students and graduate students) living in Indonesia or Nepal (Indonesia: 551 persons; Nepal: 338 persons). An English questionnaire was administered to participants through an online survey using Google. T-test, Chi-squared test and logistic regression analysis were conducted.
Results: Regarding the factors affecting anxiety, they were “trust in hospitals for COVID-19 diagnosis,” “risk of getting infected by COVID-19,” “risk of family getting infected by COVID-19,” “national discrimination due to COVID-19,” “chronic disease status,” “experience of purchasing masks,” and “health behaviors” in Indonesia, and “trust in hospitals for COVID-19 diagnosis,” “risk of family getting infected by COVID-19,” and “depression score” in Nepal. In both countries, significant effects of “trust in hospitals for COVID-19 diagnosis” and “risk of family getting infected by COVID-19” were observed.
Conclusions: Therefore, Indonesia and Nepal should implement policies and guidelines to prevent psychological and psychiatric issues in the population due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Such measures will help to prevent and control the secondary damage caused by the disease.