Background:COVID-19 pandemic started in India on 30th January 2020. A nationwide lockdown was enforced from 24th March onwards, and most citizens were confined to their homes causing many psychosocial problems. Objective: To find the prevalence of anxiety and its associated factors during COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study, conducted among the adult population of urban Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. Information was collected using a predesigned questionnaire with a sample size of 396 consenting individuals. Results: Of the 396 individuals surveyed, 36 people (9.1%) had a confirmed or suspected infection with COVID-19. One-fifth of the participants (20.9%) participants suffered from anxiety, with severity ranging from mild (13.9%, 55 people), moderate (4.8%, 19 people), to severe anxiety in 9 (2.3%) individuals. Females had a higher prevalence of anxiety as compared to males (23.8% vs 9.3%, females: males = 2.5:1). More than half of the individuals living alone (55%, 11 people) suffered from anxiety. Regression analysis showed that anxiety was twice as common among married people as compared to unmarried people (OR 2.29 [95% CI, 1.14-4.5]). Participants having a family member or friend who succumbed to COVID-19, showed a weak association for being anxious (OR 2.06 [95% CI 0.99-4.28]). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has a major mental health impact and identifying vulnerable people will help prevent and/or reduce the morbidity due to anxiety both in India and the world.
