Psychological Perception Towards Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Among General Public In Tamilnadu State, IndiaAn Exploratory Analysis

Abstract

Background: Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is an infectious respiratory disease and it begins to spreadglobally. In India, the first COVID-19 case was detected in Kerala and then it slowly starts spreading variousparts of India. Due to the rapid spreading of coronavirus (COVID-19) the people become more panic and itaffects the psychological health of the people.Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the psychological perception of the people towards COVID-19among general public in Tamilnadu, India.Materials and Method: A cross sectional study was conducted among 170 subjects in Tamilnadu based onthe simple random sampling method and their psychological perception towards COVID-19 were assessedby using a 15 item questionnaire. The data were analyzed and tabulated using descriptive statistics and chisquare test. P<0.05 were considered to be statistically significant.Results: There was a statistically significant difference was found in sleep quality(p=0.04), scared ofbeing treated indifferently (p=0.01) and financial loss (p=0.002) among males and females. No statisticallysignificant difference was found in the overall psychological perception towards COVID-19 in relation toage and gender.Conclusion: Majority of the people had a moderate level of stress towards the disease.This paper points outthe importance to address psychosocial impact of COVID-19 to reduce the vulnerability of this condition byenhancing better coping and resilience of the public.