A study on fear of the students from covid-19 at University of Basrah, Bab Al-Zubair campus

Dr. Firas A. Jassim¹

Community health nursing department, College of Nursing, University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq.

E-mail firas.jassim @uobasrah.edu.iq.

HNSJ, 2024, 5(9); https://doi.org/10.53796/hnsj59/19

Download

Published at 01/09/2024 Accepted at 20/08/2024

Citation Methods

APA Chicago Harvard Vancouver ACM ACS ABNT IEEE MLA Turabian

Abstract

Background: Corona virus is invading world and causing a high level of mortality and morbidity so creating some sort of fear at different levels.

Aim: To assess the fear of corona in the colleges students at University of Basrah, Bab Al-Zubair campus.

Methodology: The present study carried out at University of Basrah, Bab Al-Zubair campus. A convenient sample of (400) students, males (168) and females (232) were selected for the purpose of the study. A Closed-end questions questionnaire was used for the purpose of data collection, it contains two parts, the first part related to Socio-demographic characteristics of the students and include: age, gender, the educational stage, type of the study, occupational status, and marital status. The second part consists of 14 questions that are concerned with students fear from COVID-19. Standardized 3- points Likert scale including: YES, NO, and SOMEWAHT. The already performed questionnaire forma was distributed to 400 students were they read the forma and answer them, the forma then collected by the researchers, each forma was scored according to the right typical answer. Analysis was made by using SPSS (Statistical package for Social Sciences) version 23, data was expressed in (frequency and percentage). Correlations were used to examine the association between different variables.

Results: Most of the students were at age interval from 18 years to 24 years, the females are more than males in participating in our study. Most of our participant were from the morning study. Most of the sample of the students did not have job other than being students. Most of the students answer the questionnaire in wright way. There was high significant correlation between scoring and the students stage, and also there were significant correlation between scoring and student’s occupation.

Key Words: : study , fear , students , covid-19 .

INTRODUCTION

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic^[1]. A global coordinated effort is needed to stop the further spread of the virus. A pandemic is defined as “occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population.”^[2]

The last pandemic reported in the world was the H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009. On 31 December 2019, a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause, in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province in China, was reported to the World Health Organization. In January 2020, a previously unknown new virus was identified^[3][4], subsequently named the 2019 novel coronavirus, and samples obtained from cases and analysis of the virus’ genetics indicated that this was the cause of the outbreak. This novel coronavirus was named Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) by WHO in February 2020.^[5] The virus is referred to as SARS-CoV-2 and the associated disease is COVID-19^[6].

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause illness such as respiratory diseases or gastrointestinal diseases. Respiratory diseases can range from the common cold to more severe diseases e,g. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV)^[7].

A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been identified in humans previously. Once scientists determine exactly what coronavirus it is, they give it a name (as in the case of COVID-19, the virus causing it is SARS-CoV-2). Coronaviruses got their name from the way that they look under a microscope. The virus consists of a core of genetic material surrounded by an envelope with protein spikes. This gives it the appearance of a crown. The word Corona means “crown” in Latin. Coronaviruses are zoonotic^[8], meaning that the viruses are transmitted between animals and humans. It has been determined that MERS-CoV was transmitted from dromedary camels to humans and SARS-CoV from civet cats to humans^[7].  The source of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is yet to be determined, but investigations are ongoing to identify the zoonotic source to the outbreak^[9].

Coronaviruses are important human and animal pathogens. At the end of 2019, a novel coronavirus was identified as the cause of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei Province of China. It rapidly spread, resulting in an epidemic throughout China, followed by a global pandemic. In February 2020, the World Health Organization designated the disease COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The virus that causes COVID-19 is designated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2); previously, it was referred to as 2019-nCoV. ^[10] Which enables it to obtain a huge amount of information when searching for any topic using search sites, whether at home or office (10) . Nursing is the sum of services given to individuals and their families to help them maintain their natural state or help them to relieve their organic and psychological pain ^[14].

Methodology

Design of the study: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was carried out at University of Basrah, Bab Al-Zubair campus, started from 7th Fab. 2021 up to 10 June 2021, in order to assess the fear of students from COVID-19.

The sample of the study: A convenient sample of (400) students, males (168) and females (232), were selected for the purpose of the study.

Study’s instrument: A Closed-end questions questionnaire was used for the purpose of data collection. The questionnaire contains two part, the first part related to Socio-demographic characteristics of the students and include: age, gender, the educational stage, type of the study, occupational status, and marital status. The second part consists of 14 questions that are concerned with students fear from COVID-19. Standardized 3- points Likert scale including: YES, NO, and SOMEWAHT. The already performed questionnaire forma was distributed to 400 students were they read the forma and answer them, the forma then collected by the researchers, each forma was scored according to the right typical answer. The scoring categorizes according the following forma:

Level of score	Degree of score
Excellent	( 90_100 )
Very good	( 80_89 )
Good	( 70_79 )
Moderate	( 60_69 )
Acceptable	( 50_59 )
Poor	( 49 or loss )

Statistical analysis

Analysis was made by using SPSS (Statistical package for Social Sciences) version 23, data was expressed in (frequency and percentage). correlations were used to examine the association between different variables.

Results

Table 1: The distribution of the students according to age intervals.

Age intervals		Frequency	Percent
Valid	less than 18 years	7	1.8
	18 – 24	319	79.8
	25 – 34	51	12.8
	35 – 44	14	3.5
	45 or more	9	2.3
	Total	400	100.0

The table (1) showed the distribution of the studied sample (students) according to the age, there were (1.8%) aged less than 18 years, (79.8%) were aged 18 – 24, (12.8%) aged 25-34 years, (3.5%) aged 35-44 years and (2.3%) aged 45 years and more. so it is clear that most of the students were in the age interval of 18- 24 years (79.8%).

Table 2: The distribution of the students according to gender.

Gender		Frequency	Percent
Valid	Male	168	42.0
	Female	232	58.0
	Total	400	100.0

The table (2) showed the distribution of the studied sample (students) according to the gender, there were (42%) male where the number is (168) and (58%) female where the number is (232).

Table 3: The distribution of the students according to studying level.

Studying level		Frequency	Percent
Valid	first stage	120	30.0
	second stage	149	37.3
	third stage	53	13.3
	fourth stage	78	19.5
	Total	400	100.0

The table (3) showed the distribution of the studied sample (students) according to the studying level, there were (30%) leveled in first stage, (37.3%) leveled in second stage, (13.3%) leveled in third stage and (19.5%) leveled in fourth stage. So it is clear that most of the students were in studying level from second stage (37.3%).

Table 4: The distribution of the students according to studying type.

Studying type		Frequency	Percent
Valid	morning study	321	80.3
	evening study	78	19.5
	11.00	1	0.3
	Total	400	100.0

The table (4) showed the distribution of the studied sample (students) according to studying type, there were (80.3%) in morning studying and (19.5%) in evening studying. so it is clear that most of the students were from morning study.

Table 5: The distribution of the students according to occupation for study.

Occupation for study		Frequency	Percent
Valid	student only	326	81.5
	Employee	50	12.5
	another job	24	6.0
	Total	400	100.0

The table (5) showed the distribution of the studied sample (students) according to occupation for students, there were (81.5%) is student only, (12.5%) is employee and (6%) is another job. It is clear that most of the students were student only.

Table 6: The distribution of the students according to marital status interval.

Marital status		Frequency	Percent
Valid	Married	91	22.8
	Singles	301	75.3
	Divorce	8	2.0
	Total	400	100.0

The table (6) showed the distribution of the studied sample (students) according to marital status, there were (22.8%) is married, (75.3%) is single, (2%) is divorce. So most of the students were single.

Table 7: The distribution of the students according to scoring interval.

Percentage	Frequency	Scoring
6.75%	27	Excellent (90-100)
10.5%	42	Very good(80-89)
36.5%	146	Good(70-79)
23%	92	Moderate(60-69)
13.75%	55	Acceptable(50-59)
9.5%	38	Poor(49 or less)
100%	400	Total

The table (7) showed the distribution of the scoring of the students after corresponding their answer with typical answers, where we found the following: (6.75 %) were got excellent results, (10.5 %) had very good results, (36.5%) had good results, (23%) had moderate results, (13.75%) had acceptable results and (9.5%) had poor results.

Table 8: The correlation between stages and scoring.

Correlations
		Study stage	Scoring
	Pearson Correlation	1	-.130-**
	Sig. (2-tailed)		.009
	N	400	400
Scoring	Pearson Correlation	-.130-**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	.009
	N	400	400
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The table (8) showed highly significant association between the stage of the students and the scores they got.

Table 9: The correlation between student’s occupation and scoring.

Correlations
		Students occupation	Scoring
	Pearson Correlation	1	-.116-*
	Sig. (2-tailed)		.020
	N	400	400
Scoring	Pearson Correlation	-.116-*	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	.020
	N	400	400
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

The table (9) showed a significant association between the scoring and the students occupation.

Table 10: Distribution of the samples according to degree of fear.

%	Freq	Item
53.75	215	High degree of fear
23.75	95	Moderate degree of fear
23.25	93	low degree of fear
100	400	Total

The table (10) showed the distribution of the samples according to degree of fear, 53.75 % had high level of fear, 23.75% had moderate level of fear and 23.25 had low level of fear.

Table 11: Distribution of the study samples according to the response in the fear assessment questionnaire.

No %	Yes %	Items
10.2	89.8	1/Is the health of others good (friends, grandparents, loved ones) ?
17	83	2/Are you worried about healthcare collapse?
12.4	87.6	3/Are you afraid of the consequences for the economy?
11.7	88.3	4/Are you in good health?
19.9	80.1	5/Are you afraid of societal collapse?
22.7	77.3	6/Do you fear the collapse of your personal economy?
25.9	74.1	7/Do you feel nervous for fear of deteriorating academic level?
16.9	83.1	8/Are you committed and follow the rules and health guidelines?
64.6	35.3	9/Are you confident of the government’s capabilities to tackle this emerging virus?
34.2	65.8	10/Has there been a disturbance in your personal routine?
38.7	61.3	11/Does your fear increase when watching the news about the Corona virus?
32.4	67.6	12/Do you fear that your score will drop as a result of electronic exams?
11.4	88.6	13/Do you have knowledge about the Corona virus and how it is transmitted?
11.5	88.5	14/Are you afraid of losing a loved one?

The table (11) showed the distribution of the study samples according to responses in the questionnaire, most of the students had a fear from covid-19 as it appears from their responses. The fear from the virus by itself and their consequences in general, and most of the students distrust the government and health institutes in facing the pandemic.

DISCUSSION

Our study is a descriptive cross sectional study to assess the fear of students from COVID-19. Generally speaking, the students agree that most of them were having some degree of fear from the virus, which was similar to Jordon study where revealed a medium level of fear from the COVID-19. ^[11] Also our study results similar to a study done in Spain which was done for undergraduate students.^[12]

US study showed the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted college students’ coursework, stress levels and perceived health. Various estimates indicate that high proportions of college students have experienced increased amounts of stress, ^[13] which was similar to our study.

CONCLUSIONS

1. Most of the students were at age interval from 18 years to 24 years.
2. The females are more than males in participating in our study.
3. Most of our participant were from the morning study.
4. Most of the sample of the students did not have job other than being a student.
5. Scoring: most of the students answer the questionnaire in a wright way.
6. There was high significant correlation between scoring and the student’s stage, and also there were significant correlation between scoring and student’s occupation.

RECOMMENDATION

1. Enhancement of the trust by the health institutes and their role in controlling the covid-19 Pandemic.
2. Encourage vaccination to increase the level of mass immunity to get rid of the pandemic.
3. Don’t listen to false news in the social media.
4. Don’t fear from covid-19, it is not a highly killing disease, you have to prevent corona through the use of mask and frequent hands washing.

References

1.  “Archived: WHO Timeline – COVID-19”. Word Health Organization. 27 April 2020. Archived from the original on 29 April 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2024

2. Marriam Webster Dictionary. Pandemic. Available from:https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pandemic(Accessed 14 March 2020)

3. World Health Organisation. Novel Coronavirus – China.Disease outbreak news : Update 12 January 2020.

4. Page, Jeremy; Hinshaw, Drew; McKay, Betsy (26 February 2021). “In Hunt for Covid-19 Origin, Patient Zero Points to Second Wuhan Market – The man with the first confirmed infection of the new coronavirus told the WHO team that his parents had shopped there”. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 27 February 2021.

5. World Health Organization. Director-General’s remarks at the media briefing on 2019-nCoV on 11 February 2020. 2020/2/18)[2020-02-21]. https://www. who. int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-generals-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-2019-ncov-on-11-february-2020. 2020.

6. Public Health England. COVID-19: epidemiology, virology and clinical features. Available from:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-background-information/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-epidemiology-virology-and-clinical-features (Accessed 14 March 2020)

7.  “Outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2): increased transmission beyond China – fourth update” (PDF). European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2020.

8. Chan JF, Lau SK, To KK, Cheng VC, Woo PC, Yuen KY. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus: another zoonotic betacoronavirus causing SARS-like disease. Clinical microbiology reviews. 2015 Apr 1;28(2):465-522.

9. Public Health England. COVID-19: epidemiology, virology and clinical features. Available from:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-background-information/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-epidemiology-virology-and-clinical-features. (Accessed 14 March 2020)

10. World Health Organization. Director-General’s remarks at the media briefing on 2019-nCoV on 11 February 2020. http://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-2019-ncov-on-11-february-2020 (Accessed on February 12, 2020)

11. Ziad M. Alkhazaleh etal, Fear of COVID-19 Among the Hashemite University

Students According to Some Variables , Journal of Educational and Social Research, Vol 11 No 2 March 2021 .‏

12. Antonio J. Rodríguez-Hidalgo etal , Fear of COVID-19, Stress, and Anxiety in University Undergraduate Students: A Predictive Model for Depression, psyg.2020.591797

13. Catherine A. Perz etal , Validation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale in a US College Sample , Int J Ment Health Addict. 2020 Jun 25 : 1–11.

14. Luaay abdulwahid shihab, ISRAA HUSSIN ABD, Zeinab Faisal Abd, Zahia Abdel-Hussein Masatar, w (2018), Evaluation of the nurses’ knowledge about the internet, Journal of Network Computing and Applications 3: 1-7 Clausius Scientific Press, Canada.