• Mohammed Khaled Al-Hanawi, Martin Limbikani Mwale, Noor Alshareef, Ameerah M N Qattan, Khadijah Angawi, Rasha Almubark, and Omar Alsharqi.
• Department of Health Services and Hospital Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administration, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 80200, Saudi Arabia.
• Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2020 Jan 1; 13: 733-742.

BackgroundThe rapid spread of COVID-19 worldwide has confined millions of people to their homes and has caused a substantial degree of psychological distress. This study aims to investigate the psychological distress impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among the Saudi population.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study, using data collected from 3036 participants via an online self-reported questionnaire. The psychological distress was constructed using the COVID-19 Peritraumatic Distress Index to classify individuals in the sample as having normal, mild or severe distress levels. The study used descriptive analysis and multinomial logistic regressions to examine the sociodemographic factors associated with psychological distress levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.ResultsThe evidence showed that 40% of the Saudi population are distressed due to COVID-19, of whom approximately 33% are mildly distressed, while 7% are severely distressed. The distress levels are particularly high amongst the young, females, private sector employees and health workers, especially those working on the frontline.ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic is associated with increased distress amongst people living in Saudi Arabia. In support of evidence found in other countries, the study has established that the distress levels vary across different sociodemographic characteristics. Therefore, limiting people's psychological damage demands both medium- and long-term policy strategies, which include mapping the rates of stress and anxiety for effective psychological treatment allocation and establishing innovative online methods of heightening people's mental wellbeing.© 2020 Al-Hanawi et al.

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