Fear and Depression among Residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina during COVID-19 Outbreak - Internet Survey.

BACKGROUND: Occurrence of symptoms of fear and depression among general population during the outbreak of COVID-19 seems to present an emerging problem worldwide. The aim of this study was to examine levels of fear and depressive symptoms in association with COVID-19 outbreak and to assess other contributing factors in the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Link to an anonymous questionnaire, mainly based on The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (Ahorsu et al. 2020) and two-item and nine-item Patient Health Questionnaires (PHQs) (Maurer et al. 2018) (background information, fear assessment and information regarding depression) was distributed online to general population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. RESULTS: Out of 1201 respondents, 217 (18.0%) reported experiencing fear and 341 (28.4%) reported having symptoms of depression during COVID-19 outbreak. The mean age of the subjects was 30.57±11.26. Being older (OR=1.044; 95% CI 1.031-1.057; p<0.001) and having moderate to severe depressive symptoms (OR=1.093; 95% CI 1.067-1.120; p<0.001) were independent significant predictors for developing fear; living in rural environment (OR=0.551; 95% Cl 0.325-0.935; p=0.0027) significantly decreased the risk of developing fear; being female (OR=1.750; 95% CI 1.242-2.466; p=0.001), unemployed (OR=1.557; 95% CI 1.040-2.330; p=0.032) or student (OR=1.943; 95% CI 1.450-2.604; p<0.001) were independent significant predictors for developing moderate to severe depressive symptoms in association with COVID-19. Mann Whitney U-test showed that being older was statistically associated with fear (p<0.001) and being younger was statistically associated with depressive symptoms (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, based on our findings, fear and depressive symptoms in general population of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the outbreak of COVID-19 were present in 18.06% (fear) and 28.39% (depression) of subjects and it was statistically associated with age, gender, occupation, living environment and may present a secondary uprising problem connected to outbreak of COVID-19.

Sleep quality and patterns of young West Balkan adults during the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the sleep patterns among young West Balkan adults during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study conducted using an anonymous online questionnaire based on established sleep questionnaires Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) (February-August 2021). PARTICIPANTS: Young adults of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia. RESULTS: Of 1058 subjects, mean age was 28.19±9.29 years; majority were women (81.4%) and students (61.9%). Compared with before the pandemic, 528 subjects (49.9%) reported a change in sleeping patterns during the pandemic, with 47.3% subjects reporting sleeping less. Mean sleeping duration during the COVID-19 pandemic was 7.71±2.14 hours with median sleep latency of 20 (10.0-30.0) min. Only 91 (8.6%) subjects reported consuming sleeping medications. Of all, 574 (54.2%) subjects had ISI score >7, with majority (71.2%) having subthreshold insomnia, and 618 (58.4%) PSQI score ≥5, thus indicating poor sleep quality. Of 656 (62.0%) tested subjects, 464 (43.9%) were COVID-19 positive (both symptomatic and asymptomatic) who were 48.8%, next to women (70%), more likely to have insomnia symptoms; and 66.9% were more likely to have poor sleep quality. Subjects using sleep medication were 44 times, and subjects being positive to ISI 15.36 times more likely to have poor sleep quality. In contrast, being a student was a negative independent predictor for both insomnia symptoms and poor sleep quality, and mental labour and not working were negative independent predictors for insomnia symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: During the third wave of the pandemic, sleep patterns were impaired in about half of young West Balkan adults, with COVID-19-positive subjects and being women as positive independent predictors and being a student as negative independent predictor of impaired sleep pattern. Due to its importance in long-term health outcomes, sleep quality in young adults, especially COVID-19-positive ones, should be thoroughly assessed.