Prevalence of self‑reported anxiety and self‑medication among upper and middle socioeconomic strata amidst COVID‑19 pandemic

Amidst corona virus disease‑2019 (COVID‑19) pandemic, disruption to the usual ways of life can lead to anxiety and feeling of being unsafe, which may be associated with self‑medication. The study was planned to investigate the prevalence of anxiety and self‑medication during COVID‑19 pandemic.

In this cross‑sectional study, data were collected through an anonymous online survey with questionnaire consisting of four sections: demographic data of the participants, validated COVID‑19 Anxiety Inventory Items, Self‑rating Anxiety Scale, and self‑medication practices during COVID‑19 pandemic. The data were organized and analyzed using Windows Microsoft excel and SPSS software (Version 21). Descriptive statistics were calculated for all patient characteristics and survey responses. Analytical analysis included relationship between various parameters using Chi‑square test.

A total of 1100 responses were received. Approximately half of the participants were worried about getting severely ill. Majority reported reduced social contact (71.3%, n = 784) and also communicated that the pandemic has influenced their use of safety measures (86.5%, n = 951). The prevalence of mild‑to‑moderate, moderate‑to severe, and extremely severe anxiety cases were 23.1%, 4.7%, and 0.54%, respectively. One‑fourth of the responders reported self‑medication, out of which 60% were found to be anxious. Nonsteroidal anti‑inflammatory drugs were most commonly used.

Rising to the present challenge will require integration across different sectors with the immediate aim of getting people safely through the pandemic. As the world focuses on containing and delaying the spread of the COVID‑19, with burdened health‑care systems, we should not miss out on people with anxiety disorders and self‑medication problem, which may worsen with the pandemic.