Stress and Coping Among Elderly During The COVID-19 Pandemic in Sulaimanya City in Kurdistan Region of Iraq
https://doi.org/10.24017/Science.2023.1.2
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This study aimed to find out the level of stress and coping methods among elderly in Sulaimanya city during the pandemic COVID-19. Through the snowballing sampling method, 394 elders were included to this study. After validation, two scales were used in this study; stress subscale from Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and a culture-bound scale for determining coping methods. The results of this study showed that participants experienced a mild level of stress. Male participants, elders who live with their family, unvaccinated elders, physically passive elders have had higher stress level than female, elderly home, vaccinated, physical active elders. The findings also indicated that spiritual connection was the most common coping method used by the sample. Results of this study are the first and foremost way to share elder's unexpressed messages; it also can be a way for verbalizing their unspoken feelings. These results may also inform the elder's caregivers that elder's stress level and illness anxiety was not very high, strengthening their social support and spiritual connection may help them to reduce their distress into a lesser degree.
Keywords:
Stress, Coping, Elderly, COVID-19, Kurdistan
References
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[17] Sulaimanyia Statistics office,"??????? ?????? ????????? ? ??????? ?????????? (?????? ?????????? ???????) ??? ?? ? ????? ??????? ? ??????? ? ?????? ? ??? ????," (2019).
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https://doi.org/10.24017/covid.5
[20] A. A. Ismail, "How Muslim university students cope with problems: Development and validation of scale," Journal of Koya University, vol. 12,pp.23-42, 2009.
[21] H. N. Karim, "Coping style and self-esteem of Kurdish women encountered domestic abuse" Unpublished Master thesis).Koya University.
[22] W. H. Organization, "Process of translation and adaptation of instruments," .[Online]. Available at: https://cir.nii.ac.jp/all?q=http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/research_tools/translation/en/,2009.
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[24] S. A. Dar, I. Iliyas, T. Dilawar, and T. Rahman, "A Descriptive Study on Perceived Levels of Stress, Coping and Their Correlation in Retirees of Kashmir Valley," J. Psychiatry, vol. 21, no. 3, 2018.
https://doi.org/10.4172/2378-5756.1000443
[25] M. Tandon, "Assessment of the level of stress among elderly " Int. J. Home Sci., vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 31-33, 2017.
[26] L. Zheng, Y. B., Sun, J., Liu, L., Zhao, Y. M., Yan, W., Yuan, K. and Lu, "COVID-19 vaccine-related psychological stress among general public in China," Front. psychiatry, vol. 12, p. 774504, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.774504
[27] R. Rueggeberg, C. Wrosch, and G. E. Miller, "The different roles of perceived stress in the association between older adults' physical activity and physical health.," Health Psychology, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 164-171, March 2012.
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025242
[28] G. Malhotra, V., Javed, D., Bharshankar, R., Singh, V., Gautam, N., Mishra, S. and Singh, "Prevalence and Predictors of Depression, Anxiety and Stress among Elderly in the aftermath of COVID-19: A Quantitative Study from Central India," medRxiv, 2022.
https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.10.22272024
[29] M. P. Gorrochategi, A. E. Munitis,. M. D. Santamaria, and N. O. Etexebarria, "Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in People Aged Over 60 in the COVID-19 Outbreak in a Sample Collected in Northern Spain," The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol. 28, no. 9, pp. 993-998, Sep. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2020.05.022
[30] B. M. Wood, M. K. Nicholas, F. Blyth, A. Asghari, and S. Gibson, "The Utility of the Short Version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) in Elderly Patients with Persistent Pain: Does Age Make a Difference?," Pain Medicine, vol. 11, no. 12, pp. 1780-1790, Dec. 2010.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-4637.2010.01005.x
[31] E. A. Hahn, K. E. Cichy, B. J. Small, and D. M. Almeida, "Daily Emotional and Physical Reactivity to Stressors Among Widowed and Married Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, vol. 69B, no. 1, pp. 19-28, May 2013
https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbt035
[32] H. R. Fuller and A. Huseth-Zosel, "Lessons in Resilience: Initial Coping among Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic," The Gerontologist, Nov. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaa170
[33] The Qur'an book 17: 23-24.
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1036
[2] W. H. Oganizatio, "WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 21 October 2021," [Online]. Available:<https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---21-october-2021> [Accessed 10 October 2022].
[3] H. T. A. Blbas, K. F. Aziz, S. H. Nejad, and A. A. Barzinjy, "Phenomenon of depression and anxiety related to precautions for prevention among population during the outbreak of COVID-19 in Kurdistan Region of Iraq: based on questionnaire survey," J. Public Heal., vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 567-571, June 2022.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-020-01325-9
[4] N. Chen, M. Zhou, X. Dong, J. Qu, F. Gong et al., "Epidemiological and clinical Characteristics of 99 Cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia in Wuhan, China: A Descript study," Lancet, vol. 395, no. 10223, pp. 507-513, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30211-7
[5] A. Mehra S. Rani, S. Sahoo, Sh, Parveen. et al., "A crisis for elderly with mental disorders: Relapse of symptoms due to heightened anxiety due to COVID-19," Asian J. Psychiatr., vol. 51, January 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102114
[6] F. Lami, H. A. Rashak., H. A. Khaleel, S. G. Mahdi, et al., et al., "Iraq experience in handling the COVID-19 pandemic?: implications of public health challenges and lessons learned for future epidemic preparedness planning," Journal of Public Health. Vol. 43, Supp 3, pp. iii19-iii28, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdab369
[7] M. J. Zvolensky L. Gareyet, A. H. Roger, N. B. Schmidt, et al., "Psychological, addictive, and health behavior implications of the COVID-19 pandemic," Behaviour Research and Therapy, vol. 134, January, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2020.103715
[8] P. A. Strutt, C. J. Jphnco, j. Chen, C. Muir, et al., "Stress and Coping in Older Australians during COVID-19: Health, Service Utilization, Grandparenting, and Technology Use," Clin. Gerontol., vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 106-119, 2022 2022 Jan-Feb.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07317115.2021.1884158
[9] P. Y. Aziz, J. M. Hadi, A. M. Sha, S, B. Aziz, et al., "The strategy for controlling COVID-19 in Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)/Iraq: Identification, epidemiology, transmission, treatment, and recovery," International Journal of Surgery Open, vol. 25, pp. 41-46, 2020 .
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijso.2020.06.006
[10] G. KRD, "COVID-19: Dashboard - GOV.KRD, Kurdistan Regional Government."[Online]. Available: https://gov.krd/coronavirus-en/dashboard/ Nov., 2022. [Accessed: Nov. 3, 2022].
[11] Q. Chen et al., "Mental health care for medical staff in China during the COVID-19 outbreak," The Lancet Psychiatry, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. e15-e16, Apr 2020
https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30078-X
[12] S. A. Meo and N. Alhowikan, A. M., Al-Khlaiwi, T., Meo, I. M., Halepoto, D. M., Iqbal, M. and Ahmed, "Novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV: Prevalence, biological and clinical characteristics comparison with SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV," Eur. Rev. Med. Pharmacol. Sci., vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 2012-2019, 2020, doi: 10.26355/eurrev_202002_20379.
[13] W.H. Organization, "Mental health of older adults," Who.int, 2017. [Online]. Available:https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-of-older-adults .[Accessed: Nov. 3, 2022].
[14] D. Y. L. Yeung and H. H. Fung, "Age differences in coping and emotional responses toward SARS: A longitudinal study of Hong Kong Chinese," Aging & Mental Health., vol. 11, no. 5, pp. 579-587, Sep 2007.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13607860601086355
[15] G. A. Vannini, P., Gagliardi, G. P., Kuppe, M., Dossett, M. L., Donovan, N. J., Gatchel, J. R. and Marshall, "Stress, resilience, and coping strategies in a sample of community-dwelling older adults during COVID-19," J. Psychiatr. Res., vol. 138, pp. 176-185, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.03.050
[16] R. V. Krejcie and D. W. Morgan, "Determining Sample Size for Research Activities," Educational and Psychological Measurement, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 607-610, Sep. 1970.
https://doi.org/10.1177/001316447003000308
[17] Sulaimanyia Statistics office,"??????? ?????? ????????? ? ??????? ?????????? (?????? ?????????? ???????) ??? ?? ? ????? ??????? ? ??????? ? ?????? ? ??? ????," (2019).
[18] P. F. Lovibond and S. H. Lovibond, "Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales," Sydney: Psychology Foundation. 1995.
https://doi.org/10.1037/t01004-000
[19] N. M. Kamal and N. Othman, "Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in the time of COVID-19 Pandemic in Kurdistan Region, Iraq," Kurdistan Journal of Applied Research, pp. 37-44, May 2020.
https://doi.org/10.24017/covid.5
[20] A. A. Ismail, "How Muslim university students cope with problems: Development and validation of scale," Journal of Koya University, vol. 12,pp.23-42, 2009.
[21] H. N. Karim, "Coping style and self-esteem of Kurdish women encountered domestic abuse" Unpublished Master thesis).Koya University.
[22] W. H. Organization, "Process of translation and adaptation of instruments," .[Online]. Available at: https://cir.nii.ac.jp/all?q=http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/research_tools/translation/en/,2009.
[23] S. K. Whitbourne, S. B. Whitbourne, "Adult development & aging: biopsychosocial perspectives." (7th ed). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc. p. 10. 2020.
[24] S. A. Dar, I. Iliyas, T. Dilawar, and T. Rahman, "A Descriptive Study on Perceived Levels of Stress, Coping and Their Correlation in Retirees of Kashmir Valley," J. Psychiatry, vol. 21, no. 3, 2018.
https://doi.org/10.4172/2378-5756.1000443
[25] M. Tandon, "Assessment of the level of stress among elderly " Int. J. Home Sci., vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 31-33, 2017.
[26] L. Zheng, Y. B., Sun, J., Liu, L., Zhao, Y. M., Yan, W., Yuan, K. and Lu, "COVID-19 vaccine-related psychological stress among general public in China," Front. psychiatry, vol. 12, p. 774504, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.774504
[27] R. Rueggeberg, C. Wrosch, and G. E. Miller, "The different roles of perceived stress in the association between older adults' physical activity and physical health.," Health Psychology, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 164-171, March 2012.
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025242
[28] G. Malhotra, V., Javed, D., Bharshankar, R., Singh, V., Gautam, N., Mishra, S. and Singh, "Prevalence and Predictors of Depression, Anxiety and Stress among Elderly in the aftermath of COVID-19: A Quantitative Study from Central India," medRxiv, 2022.
https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.10.22272024
[29] M. P. Gorrochategi, A. E. Munitis,. M. D. Santamaria, and N. O. Etexebarria, "Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in People Aged Over 60 in the COVID-19 Outbreak in a Sample Collected in Northern Spain," The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol. 28, no. 9, pp. 993-998, Sep. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2020.05.022
[30] B. M. Wood, M. K. Nicholas, F. Blyth, A. Asghari, and S. Gibson, "The Utility of the Short Version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) in Elderly Patients with Persistent Pain: Does Age Make a Difference?," Pain Medicine, vol. 11, no. 12, pp. 1780-1790, Dec. 2010.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-4637.2010.01005.x
[31] E. A. Hahn, K. E. Cichy, B. J. Small, and D. M. Almeida, "Daily Emotional and Physical Reactivity to Stressors Among Widowed and Married Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, vol. 69B, no. 1, pp. 19-28, May 2013
https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbt035
[32] H. R. Fuller and A. Huseth-Zosel, "Lessons in Resilience: Initial Coping among Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic," The Gerontologist, Nov. 2020.
https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaa170
[33] The Qur'an book 17: 23-24.
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Y. A. Qadr and A. A. Ismail, “Stress and Coping Among Elderly During The COVID-19 Pandemic in Sulaimanya City in Kurdistan Region of Iraq”, KJAR, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 11–17, Feb. 2023, doi: 10.24017/Science.2023.1.2.
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