ARTÍCULOS ORIGINALES
Depression as an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample of university students
Depresión como efecto de la pandemia COVID-19 en una muestra de estudiantes universitarios
Volumen 7, Número 1
Enero-Junio, 2023
20-26
Danaé Buendía-Trejo (1, 2), Regina Solares Zendejas (2), Alejandro Freyre (2), Mildreth Caderón Bandera (2), Abraham Romero-Beltrán (2), Erick González (2), Gustavo Gordillo (2), Mayrem Ruiz (2), Natalia Soberanis (2), Carlos Torner (1, 2).
Afiliaciones:
1. Laboratorio de Neurociencias, Departamento de Atención a la Salud, División de Ciencias Biológicas y de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Xochimilco. Ciudad de México, México.
2. Licenciatura en Medicina, Departamento de Atención a la Salud, División de Ciencias Biológicas y de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Xochimilco. Ciudad de México, México.
Correspondencia:
Carlos Torner
ctorner@correo.xoc.uam.mx
Calzada del Hueso 1100, Col. Villa Quietud, Alcaldía Coyoacán, C.P. 04960. Ciudad de México, México.
2023 © Buendía-Trejo D, Solares R, Freyre A, Calderón M, Romero-Beltrán A, González E, et al. Depression as an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample of university students.
Esta obra se distribuye bajo una Licencia Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC).
Conflicts of interest: The authors declared that they have no conflicts of interest.
Funding: The authors declared that there were no sources of financing from natural or legal persons for the planning, development, writing and/or publication of this work.
Sugerencia de cita:
Buendía-Trejo D, Solares R, Freyre A, Calderón M, Romero-Beltrán A, González E, et al. Depression as an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample of university students. Rev Cadena Cereb. 2023; 7(1): 20-26.
Recibido: 16 de diciembre de 2022.
Aceptado: 17 de enero de 2023.
Publicado: 30 de agosto de 2023.
RESUMEN
Introducción: La pandemia de COVID-19 indujo alteraciones como ansiedad y depresión, que afectaron a la población infectada. Este estudio evaluó la depresión, efecto de las restricciones pandémicas en estudiantes de una universidad pública en México.
Métodos: Se envió la Escala Zung a través de una encuesta en línea para evaluar el posible estado de depresión entre los estudiantes, durante la segunda (Febrero 2021) y cuarta olas (Mayo 2022) de la pandemia.
Resultados: El porcentaje de casos con síntomas de depresión fue mayor durante la segunda ola de la pandemia (2021), que al final de la cuarta ola (2022), aunque este incremento fue significativo solo en las mujeres (p < 0,001). El análisis de los ítems de la escala de Zung mostró que el perfil sintomatológico de la depresión era común para ambos sexos en los clústeres de alteraciones psicológicas y psicosomáticas; las diferencias entre sexos se dieron en ítems de alteraciones fisiológicas. El porcentaje de casos sin depresión aumentó significativamente en mujeres estudiantes, posiblemente relacionado con las restricciones sociales, en los hombres no hubo efectos significativos. El perfil común de depresión se encontró en ítems del clúster de “alteraciones psicológicas”, lo que sugiere que ambos géneros coincidieron en el impacto psicológico de la COVID-19. El clúster de alteraciones fisiológicas es lo que marcó la diferencia entre ambos sexos.
Conclusión: En mujeres universitarias en México, los casos con síntomas depresivos fueron mayores durante la segunda ola y disminuyeron hacia el final de la pandemia.
Palabras Clave:
depresión; COVID-19; pandemia; salud mental.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic induced alterations such as anxiety and depression, that may affect infected people. This study evaluated the depression as an effect of pandemic restrictions in students at a public university in Mexico.
Methods: A survey was conducted using the Zung Scale to assess depressive symptoms that may suggest a possible state of depression among students. The scale was sent online at the second (February 2021) and fourth (May 2022) waves of the pandemic.
Results: The percentage of cases with depressive symptoms was greater during the pandemic second wave, than at the end of the pandemic fourth wave, although this increment was only significant in women (p < 0.001). The analyses of Zung scale items showed that the symptomatologic profile of depressive students had common items for both sexes, in the clusters of psychological and psychosomatic alterations; the differences between sexes were mainly in items of physiological alterations. The percentage of cases without depression increased significantly in female students, possibly related to the end of the isolative restrictions, although in men there were no significant effects. A common profile of depression was found in items of the cluster of "psychological alterations", which suggests that both genders had similar psychological impact of COVID-19. The physiological alterations’ cluster makes the difference for the diagnoses of depression between both sexes.
Conclusion: In female university students in Mexico, the cases with depressive symptoms was greater during the second wave of the pandemic and decreased towards the end of it.
Keywords:
depression; COVID-19; pandemic; mental health.
REFERENCIAS
1. Green A. Li Wenliang. Lancet. 2020; 395(10225): 682. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30382-2
2. Harrison A, Lin T, Wang P. Mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission and Pathogenesis. Trends Immunol. 2020; 41(12): 1100-1115. DOI: 10.1016/j.it.2020.10.004
3. To KK, Sridhar S, Chiu KH, Hung DL, Li X, Hung IF, et al. Lessons learned 1 year after SARS-CoV-2 emergence leading to COVID-19 pandemic. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2021; 10(1): 507-535. DOI: 10.1080/22221751.2021.1898291
4. Kirtipal N, Bharadwaj S, Kang S. From SARS to SARS-CoV-2, insights on structure, pathogenicity and immunity aspects of pandemic human coronaviruses. Infect Genet Evol. 2020; 85: 104502. DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104502
5. Muralidar S, Ambi S, Sekaran S, Krishnan U. The emergence of COVID-19 as a global pandemic: Understanding the epidemiology, immune response and potential therapeutic targets of SARS-CoV-2. Biochimie. 2020; 179: 85-100. DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2020.09.018
6. Suárez V, Suarez M, Oros S, Ronquillo E. Epidemiología de COVID-19 en México: del 27 de febrero al 30 de abril de 2020. Rev Clín Esp. 2020; 220(8): 463-471. DOI: 10.1016/j.rce.2020.05.007
7. Secretaría de Salud, Dirección General de Epidemiología. Informe Integral de COVID-19 en México. México, Ciudad de México. Número 07-2022, 08 de Junio de 2022.
8. Pérez-Ferrer C, López-Olmedo N, Bautista-Arredondo S, Colchero M, Stern D, Zepeda-Tello R, et al. Ciclos de trabajo-confinamiento para reducir la transmisión de Covid-19: evidencia y recomendaciones en el contexto de México. Salud Publica Mex. 2021; 63(2): 316-323. DOI: 10.21149/12105
9. Durá-Travé T. Home confinement for COVID-19 and weight gain in schoolchildren and adolescents. Nutr Hosp. 2020; 38(1): 213-214. DOI: 10.20960/nh.03417
10. Gallegos O. ¿La educación básica híbrida llegó tarde a México (ciclo escolar 2021-2022)? Sincronía. 2022; XXVI(82): 840-857. DOI: 10.32870/sincronia.axxvi.n82.40b22
11. Ammar A, Brach M, Trabelsi K, Chtourou H, Boukhris O, Masmoudi L, et al. Effects of COVID-19 home confinement on eating behaviour and physical activity: results of the ECLB-COVID19 international online survey. Nutrients. 2020; 12(6): 1583. DOI: 10.3390/nu12061583
12. Bertrand L, Shaw KA, Ko J, Deprez D, Chilibeck PD, Zello GA. The impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on university students' dietary intake, physical activity, and sedentary behaviour. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2021; 46(3): 265-272. DOI: 10.1139/apnm-2020-0990
13. Gallo LA, Gallo TF, Young SL, Moritz KM, Akison LK. The impact of isolation measures due to COVID-19 on energy intake and physical activity levels in Australian university students. Nutrients. 2020; 12: 1865. DOI: 10.3390/nu12061865
14. Heinberg L, Steffen K. Social Isolation and Loneliness During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impact on Weight. Curr Obesity Rep. 2021; 10(3): 365-370. DOI: 10.1007/s13679-021-00447-9
15. Copeland W, McGinnis E, Bai Y, Adams Z, Nardone H, Devadanam V, et al. Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on College Student Mental Health and Wellness. J Am Acad Child Adol Psychiatr. 2021; 60(1): 134-141.e2. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2020.08.466
16. Onyeaka H, Anumudu C, Al-Sharify Z, Egele-Godswill E, Mbaegbu P. COVID-19 pandemic: A review of the global lockdown and its far-reaching effects. Science Progress. 2021; 104(2): 003685042110198. DOI: 10.1177/00368504211019854
17. COVID-19 Mental Disorders Collaborators. Global prevalence and burden of depressive and anxiety disorders in 204 countries and territories in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lancet. 2021; 398(10312): 1700-1712. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02143-7
18. Wathelet M, Duhem S, Vaiva G, Baubet T, Habran E, Veerapa E, et al. Factors Associated with Mental Health Disorders Among University Students in France Confined During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Net Open. 2020; 3(10): e2025591. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.25591
19. Zimmermann M, Bledsoe C, Papa A. Initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on college student mental health: A longitudinal examination of risk and protective factors. Psychiatry Res. 2021; 305: 114254. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114254
20. Fancourt D, Steptoe A, Bu F. Trajectories of anxiety and depressive symptoms during enforced isolation due to COVID-19 in England: a longitudinal observational study. Lancet Psychiatry. 2021; 8(2): 141-149. DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30482-X
21. Toledo-Fernández A, Betancourt-Ocampo D, González-González A. Distress, Depression, Anxiety, and Concerns and Behaviors Related to COVID-19 during the First Two Months of the Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study in Adult MEXICANS. Behav Sci (Basel). 2021; 11(5): 76. DOI: 10.3390/bs11050076
22. Betancourt-Ocampo D, Toledo-Fernández A, González-González A. Mental Health Changes in Older Adults in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study in Mexico. Front Public Health. 2022; 10: 848635. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.848635
23. Cortés-Álvarez NY, Garduño AS, Sánchez-Vidaña DI, Marmolejo-Murillo LG, Vuelvas-Olmos CR. A Longitudinal Study of the Psychological State of Teachers Before and During the COVID-19 Outbreak in Mexico. Psychol Rep. 2022: 332941221100458. DOI: 10.1177/00332941221100458
24. Domínguez-González AD, Guzmán-Valdivia G, Ángeles-Téllez FS, Manjarrez-Ángeles MA, Secín-Diep R. Depression and suicidal ideation in Mexican medical students during COVID-19 outbreak. A longitudinal study. Heliyon. 2022; 8(2): e08851. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon. 2022.e08851
25. Zung WW. A self-rating depression scale. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1965; 12: 63–70. DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.1965.01720310065008
26. Rivera BM, Corrales AE, Cáceres Ó, Pina JA. Validación de la Escala de Depresión de Zung en Personas con VIH. Ter Psicol. 2007; 25(2): 135–40. Available in: https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=78525204
27. Chen X, Hu W, Hu Y, Xia X, Li X. Discrimination and structural validity evaluation of Zung self-rating depression scale for pregnant women in China. J Psychosom Obstet Gynecol. 2020; 43(1): 26-34. DOI: 10.1080/0167482X.2020.1770221
28. Guo C, Huang X. Hospital anxiety and depression scale exhibits good consistency but shorter assessment time than Zung self-rating anxiety/depression scale for evaluating anxiety/depression in non-small cell lung cancer. Medicine. 2021; 100(8): e24428. DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000024428
29. Hao A, Huang J, Xu X. Anxiety and depression in glioma patients: prevalence, risk factors, and their correlation with survival. Irish J Medical Sci (1971). 2020; 190(3): 1155-1164. DOI: 10.1007/s11845-020-02374-5
30. Nnajekwu CO, Nnajekwu UC, Ikefuna NA, Ojinnaka CN. Mental Health of Adolescents with Epilepsy in Enugu, Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Study. J Child Neurol. 2021; 36(2): 116-122. DOI: 10.1177/0883073820954060
31. Shao R, He P, Ling B, Tan L, Xu L, Hou Y, et al. Prevalence of depression and anxiety and correlations between depression, anxiety, family functioning, social support and coping styles among Chinese medical students. BMC Psychology. 2020; 8(1). DOI: 10.1186/s40359-020-00402-8
32. Melo-Carrillo A, Van Oudenhove L, Lopez-Avila A. Depressive symptoms among Mexican medical students: High prevalence and the effect of a group psychoeducation intervention. J Affect Disorders. 2012;136(3): 1098-1103. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2011.10.040
33. Chen F, Zheng D, Liu J, Gong Y, Guan Z, Lou D. Depression and anxiety among adolescents during COVID-19: A cross-sectional study. Brain Behav Immun. 2020; 88: 36-38. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2020.05.061
34. Pérez-Cano HJ, Moreno-Murguía MB, Morales-López O, Crow-Buchanan O, English JA, Lozano-Alcázar J, et al. Anxiety, depression, and stress in response to the coronavirus disease-19 pandemic. Cir. Cir. 2020; 88(5): 562-568. DOI: 10.24875/CIRU.20000561
35. Olmedo-Buenrostro BA, Torres-Hernández J, Velasco-Rodríguez R, Mora-Brambila AB, Blas-Vargas LA. Prevalencia y severidad de depresión en estudiantes de enfermería de la Universidad de Colima. Rev Enferm IMSS. 2006; 14(1): 17-22. Available in: https://www.medigraphic.com/pdfs/enfermeriaimss/eim-2006/eim061d.pdf
36. Yusvisaret-Palmer M, Prince R, Medina M, López D. Prevalencia de depresión en estudiantes de la Facultad de Medicina Campus Mexicali, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, México. Rev Educ Cienc Salud. 2017; 14(1): 30-34. Available in: http://www2.udec.cl/ofem/recs/anteriores/vol1412017/artinv14117c.pdf
37. Yusvisaret-Palmer L, Palmer-Morales S, Medina-Ramírez M, López-Palmer D. Prevalencia de depresión durante la COVID-19 en estudiantes de medicina de una universidad privada mexicana. MEDISAN. 2021; 25 (3): 637-646. Available in: https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=368467867006