| Summary: | Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has a devastating impact on public health and requires extensive preventive and precautionary measures to contain its spread. These measures result in dramatic lifestyle changes which might lead to disturbed mental health outcomes among individuals.
Aims and Objective: The aims of this study were to (1) assess anxiety, obsession, and reassurance-seeking behavior due to COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) to compare these outcomes among health-care professionals and the general population.
Settings and Design: This was an online community based cross sectional study done in the month of November, 2020.
Subjects and Methods: The study was conducted in November 2020 among 527 individuals selected randomly. A self-designed, semi-structured questionnaire consisting of 25 questions about demographic details, anxiety, obsession, and reassurance-seeking behavior was applied using Google forms.
Statistical Analysis Used: SPSS version 25.0 (IBM).
Results: Of 527 individuals, 246 (46.7%) were men and 281 (53.3%) were women. Health-care professionals and general population comprised 255 (48.4%) and 272 (51.6%) individuals respectively. Anxiety was found among 14 (2.65%) individuals, obsession in 97 (18%) and reassurance-seeking behavior in 51 (9.67%) individuals. Obsession and reassurance-seeking behavior was found to be significantly higher (p < 0.05) among general population than in health-care professionals. Reassurance-seeking behavior was found to be significantly higher in COVID-19 positive patients. (p < 0.05).
Conclusions: Anxious and obsessive thinking about health during the COVID-19 pandemic stimulating reassurance-seeking behavior was more among the general population in comparison to health-care professionals. This indicates the need for proper health education, guidance, and training regarding the preventive measures and precautions to be taken in order to avoid adverse mental health outcomes.
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