Prevalência de sintomas de ansiedade e fatores associados em estudantes do curso de fisioterapia de uma universidade pública durante a pandemia da COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: Health students are highly susceptible to psychosocial conditions’ emergencing and worsening. With the new coronavirus pandemic, a trend towards the process of mental illness has been observed in several populations. However, this anxiety process has not been investigated yet involving undergraduate students, specifically, in the physical therapy graduation. Objective: To identify the prevalence of anxiety symptoms in the population avalueted during the COVID-19 pandemic and, in addition, to investigate the presence of associated factors. Methods: This is an observational, quantitative, cross-sectional study. Students with active bond in the physical therapy course were evaluated. Data collection took place through a virtual form. The level of anxiety was measured by the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS®) Anxiety – Short Questionnaire 8th. Data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Results: All volunteers were considered eligible for the study, totaling a sample of 100 participants. In view of the evaluation’ results by PROMIS® Anxiety, the sample obtained a means score of 63.15±7.00 points, with anxiety symptoms prevalence observed in 87% of the evaluated sample. As to the risk factors, there was no significant difference able to show the relationship between sex, age, race, graduation period and socioeconomic status with the level of anxiety severity. Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrate that students in the physical therapy graduation had a high prevalence of anxiety symptoms. Despite this, a direct relationship between the level of anxiety and the investigated factors was not identified.