• María Beatriz Lucuix, Juan Gómez-Salgado, Myriam E Barone, Sara Domínguez-Salas, Leticia Elizabeth Luque, Carmen Rodríguez-Domínguez, and Carlos Ruiz-Frutos.
• Social Work Career, Faculty of Social Sciences, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2021 Dec 23; 100 (51): e28333e28333.

AbstractIn addition to the implications that this pandemic has had on physical health, there are other circumstances that threaten the mental health of the population, such as lockdown measures to prevent the spread of the virus, uncertainty, and the increase in infections and deaths. For this reason, this study explored indicators of psychological distress in the Argentine population, as well as its relationship with sociodemographic and health variables.Cross-sectional observational study, with data collection from May to August 2020. A total of 1112 people over the age of 18 who responded to various measurement instruments through an online questionnaire participated. A bivariate analysis and logistic regression were carried out in order to determine predictive factors of psychological distress.The data revealed that 60.9% of the sample presented psychological distress. A greater number with this condition was observed in women, apart from younger people, with a greater number of symptoms associated with the disease and with worse self-perceived health. There was no evidence of association between psychological distress and contact with people infected with coronavirus disease 2019 or with material suspicious of being infected.This research provided an overview of the mental health status of a significant population sample in Argentina, months after the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. These findings complement those found in other national and international studies, allowing the accumulation of evidence that states the need to demand to draw attention to the mental health of the population, especially the most vulnerable groups, on behalf of the public authorities.Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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