Prevalence of Anxiety among Senior Citizens during the Pandemic in Partido District of Camarines Sur, Philippines

Abstract

This is a descriptive and correlational study of the prevalence of anxiety among senior citizens of the mainland Partido District, Camarines Sur, Philippines. It determines the level of support, locality and other socio-economic factors affecting anxiety of the elderly during the pandemic. It likewise determines the relationship between these variables to level of anxiety of the respondents. The study utilized randomly selected municipalities of the district from which 385 respondents were selected using stratified random sampling. Further, it utilized the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), secondary data, unstructured interview and researchers’ observation in gathering data. This study found that the majority of the respondents experienced normal level of anxiety but a significant number experienced moderate level of anxiety during the pandemic. There was neutrality and dissatisfaction in the level of social support provided by friends and relatives. Likewise, there was a significant correlation between levels of anxiety and social support and income. On the other hand, a significant negative correlation was found between levels of anxiety and socio-demographic factors such age gender, localities, home ownership and educational attainment. It was recommended that appropriate psychological and financial support and interventions accorded to the elderly so that anxiety levels may be reduced during pandemics making it more manageable to the elderly. Establishing better relationships through regular visits and monitoring of the elderly by health workers during pandemics are avenues to improve social support to senior citizens. The existing “relief system” of the government in the form of goods may be improved making it more sustainable and continuous throughout the duration of pandemics.